Farming Express. Page 5
Renewable Energy Guide
Farming News
Heatwave boosts staff hiring by farmers and manufacturers
Surging demand for summer food such
as lettuce and ice cream and barbecue
charcoal leading some to work 24-hour
shifts
Farmers and manufacturers are hiring
extra staff and working 24-hour shifts to
cope with surging demand for summer
food and barbecue essentials.
As the temperatures climb above 30C
in parts of the country, ice-cream sales
soared 123% at Waitrose while rival
supermarket Sainsbury's sold six times
more disposable barbecues and bags of
charcoal than during last year's soggy
summer.
British salad grower G's Fresh Salads
said last week saw record sales and the
company is expecting another peak this
week as it benefits from the first sustained
period of warm weather since 2006.
"It's a real mission to keep up with that,"
said Dan Cross, managing director of
G's. The company has hired a third more
staff than usual for this time of year and
is running three harvesting crews 24
hours a day, seven days a week to keep
up with the clamour for iceberg lettuces,
compared with just one crew last month.
G's sold 8.4m lettuces last week, about
40% more than usual, while demand for
radishes was up nearly 200%.
The good news is that nature gives
farmers a helping hand because the hot
weather helps salad and fruit crops grow
faster and ensures they are of high quality
during sunny spells.
"It's a great opportunity for us, this is
what we want," said Cross. "The guys are
working harder and longer hours and we
are buying them ice-creams to help them
along."
It's less good news for vegetable farmers.
Yields of potatoes are slightly down this
year, as a result of the chilly spring, and
some vegetables do not grow well once
the mercury rises above 25C.
Barbecue coals manufacturer Big K
Products UK said its packing plant in
Norfolk doubled its shifts two weeks ago
and has taken on 40% more staff as the
nation has headed for the garden to grill
burgers and sausages.
Retailers begin building up charcoal
stocks in March but Mike Theodorou,
sales director for Big K, said the surge in
sales relatively late in the season meant
stocks were tight.
"We'll probably sell out at some point,"
he said. It takes four weeks to make
and pack barbecue coals, which tend to
be imported from elsewhere in Europe
and as far away as South Africa, so
responding to sudden surges in demand is
tricky.
"We're fine at the moment but if this
weather continues for another couple of
weeks there will come a point when there
is a shortage in the market place."
As farmers and retailers around the
country struggle to keep the shelves full,
demand for support equipment such as
refrigerated lorries, packaging and pallets
is up, raising transport costs.
Alan Braithwaite, chairman of supply
chain advisory firm LCP Consulting and
visiting professor at Cranfield School
of Management, said most seasonal
businesses were prepared for spikes in
demand over the summer and would
have built up stocks in preparation. The
system copes well with five-day runs of
hot weather but a 10-day spell piles on
the pressure.
Ice-cream manufacturers, for example,
typically hold eight to 10 weeks' worth
of stock but are hiring in hundreds more
staff and increasing shifts to ensure
freezers are not left empty. Marks &
Spencer said sales of orange lollies were
up 303% on last year, while choc ices are
up 220%.
For goods that take a long time to make,
such as clothing, flexing prices is pretty
much the only way to deal with sudden
changes in demand.
The hot weather has been good news for
fashion retailers, for example, but they
are unlikely to be ordering thousands of
extra pairs of shorts. Most have already
started their end of season sales, and the
hot weather means shops are able to clear
stock with lower discounts.
Some chains, such as M&S and New
Look, have delayed their sales, while one
retail insider said clothing stores were
offering discounts of 20-30% this year
compared with the usual price cuts of up
to 50% at this time of year.
One major retailer said: "If we get an
exceptional weather it will ensure we sell
out for once."