Fosdyke firm reveals huge increase in kale consumption

A combination of people cooking from scratch more often at home, with an increased focus on healthy eating, has seen an unprecedented rise in sales of green vegetables during the most recent lockdown.

Fosdyke grower Emmett UK says it has seen a 27% increase in the volume of cavolo nero (Italian kale) sold in January compared to the previous year.

The rise in home working and need for all of us to spend more time at home has led to many people viewing cooking as the new commute, with 74% saying it provides a break between work time and home time.

Online searches for ‘cooking cavolo nero’ were up 97% in January compared to the previous year, as consumers sought out new ideas.

At the same time, the pandemic has prompted an increased interest in the impact food can have on overall wellbeing, with 60% of people trying harder to keep themselves physically healthy and searches for healthy recipes up by 134%.

Versatile and boasting numerous health benefits, green veg like cavolo nero tick a lot of boxes for today’s consumer and has led to shoppers adding 1,642,000 kg of spinach, 842,000 kgs of kale and 266,000 kgs of cavolo nero, to their shopping in January alone.

Emmett group managing director Alex Boughton, said: “The great taste, versatility and nutrition benefits of green veg like cavolo nero have struck a chord with the home-working and health-seeking consumers.

“In fact, we saw 87% more visits to the cavolo nero page of the Discover Great Veg website in January than the same time last year.”