RETAILERS SNUB EXOTIC IMPORT
Listed under: News
Published: Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Retailers have called the EU's decision to approve the import of South African fruit, Baobab, as 'disappointing'
Heralded as the 'superfruit' of 2010, it has been welcomed with a predominantly positive press following a greenlight by EU Novel Foods.
However, the approval has sparked criticism from independents who argue that the move detracts attention from British produce.
“The British fruit industry has been badly hit by imports from abroad. Do we really want to endorse something that adds further weight to this blow? I'm disappointed the EU seems to be moving in this direction again,” said Richard Brooks, owner of The Cotswold Food Store, Gloucestershire.
Shoppers are now buying baobab directly, believing it to be the health food of the decade (it reportedly contains three times more vitamin C than an orange, twice as much calcium as milk and twice as many antioxidants as goji berries).
“I'm not saying don't import anything from abroad, I'd just like the industry to concentrate on getting people conscientious about British food first, before seducing them with other options. It seems a shame to send mixed messages when so much work has been done to show our support for local producers,” said Mr Brooks.
The argument that catering for a more bizarre market is important to the future of the UK food industry is acknowledged, but not seen as justification for the EU approval.
“Of course there will always be a market for oddities, but surely it would be better if we concentrated on getting the majority of people to focus on British before steering them towards imports?” said Mr Brooks.
“If you went to France, for example, 99% of people would be drinking and eating produce sourced locally. That's where we need to be,” he added.
Baobab is a white, powdery fruit pulp with a tangy taste, described as ‘caramel pear with subtle tones of grapefruit’.
Thanks to DADOBAT (Domestication and Development of Baobab and Tamarind) for the photography.
Visit http://www.dadobat.soton.ac.uk/english/static/fruits/fruits.aspx
However, the approval has sparked criticism from independents who argue that the move detracts attention from British produce.
“The British fruit industry has been badly hit by imports from abroad. Do we really want to endorse something that adds further weight to this blow? I'm disappointed the EU seems to be moving in this direction again,” said Richard Brooks, owner of The Cotswold Food Store, Gloucestershire.
Shoppers are now buying baobab directly, believing it to be the health food of the decade (it reportedly contains three times more vitamin C than an orange, twice as much calcium as milk and twice as many antioxidants as goji berries).
“I'm not saying don't import anything from abroad, I'd just like the industry to concentrate on getting people conscientious about British food first, before seducing them with other options. It seems a shame to send mixed messages when so much work has been done to show our support for local producers,” said Mr Brooks.
The argument that catering for a more bizarre market is important to the future of the UK food industry is acknowledged, but not seen as justification for the EU approval.
“Of course there will always be a market for oddities, but surely it would be better if we concentrated on getting the majority of people to focus on British before steering them towards imports?” said Mr Brooks.
“If you went to France, for example, 99% of people would be drinking and eating produce sourced locally. That's where we need to be,” he added.
Baobab is a white, powdery fruit pulp with a tangy taste, described as ‘caramel pear with subtle tones of grapefruit’.
Thanks to DADOBAT (Domestication and Development of Baobab and Tamarind) for the photography.
Visit http://www.dadobat.soton.ac.uk/english/static/fruits/fruits.aspx
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There are currently 2 comments - Have Your Say Today
Baobab fruit is a niche product. Having eaten the product in Africa for years, it is an aquired taste, to put it mildly!
It is certainly NOT competition for UK fruit growers, far from it. UK growers have very little to worry about.
Our preferred use was in G and T’s in the bush, as an alternative to lemon…
“If you went to France, for example, 99% of people would be drinking and eating produce sourced locally. That’s where we need to be,”
Bananas? Coffee? Or is there a secret French coffee belt in the foothills of the Alps? They do indeed favour local and French foods much more than us, but they also consume imported niche products that they cannot grow themselves.
Baobab, goji berries or any other exotic super-food-fad is not going to make any measurable impact on the sales of UK grown produce. And certainly not when compared to imports of foreign apples into supermarkets during the UK apple season for example.
The EU Novel Foods legislation was put in place on the basis of a need to protect consumer safety from new, untested foods from outside the EU. It has nothing to do with protecting or promoting national products - that’s the job of industry bodies and governments. The idea that we should try to use it in a protectionist manner to block imports of something perfectly safe from another country is simply wrong, and all the more so as that is just the sort of tactic cynically used by some governments and pharmaceutical lobby groups to block safe, effective functional foods and we should be far above using such methods.
I sell and promote carefully sourced UK produce on the basis that it tastes good, it’s good for local economies, and it’s good for the environment. Stick to the positives I say.