Following the successful launch of Burgundy Broccoli to the UK market in 2019, Lincolnshire-based seed developers Elsoms Seeds and growers Staples Vegetables Ltd, are entering the UK’s second season of production.
Burgundy Broccoli is named for its deep purple hue and is so tender that the whole head can be enjoyed raw or cooked.
Elsoms developed the seed for Burgundy Broccoli to bring a unique, whole-head variant to UK shelves, which was launched to consumers last year. Production and harvest have been undertaken in conjunction with Staples Vegetables Ltd, one of the largest vegetable producers in the UK.
Over the next three months, 100 hectares of Burgundy Broccoli crops will be sown, grown and harvested on the Lincolnshire Fens, the ideal location for brassica production, home to alkaline soil and nutrient-rich earth.
Burgundy Broccoli’s seed producers, growers and harvesters are well prepared for the UK season ahead, working strenuously to ensure crop production is maximised and the UK’s first no-waste whole-head brassica is in abundant supply across the country.
To maximise crop levels and production, Burgundy Broccoli goes through different phases of growing and harvesting, split between production plants in both Spain and the UK. Aligned with the temperate seasons and UK’s rising climes, growers begin sowing seeds in the UK from April – in time for peak season which falls in mid-August until September. The UK’s harvest period begins in June, continuing through until December.