Lincolnshire’s peas on toast is a new food trend which is growing in popularity in London restaurants

The humble Lincolnshire pea is taking on the toast titans thanks to a new food trend which is being served up in London restaurants.

For decades, people have been looking to avocado or beans to liven up a slice of bread but now chefs seeking fresh new flavours have turned to peas – and 50% of the nation’s crop is grown right here.

Several recipes featuring lemon, cheese and mint are popping can be found from the likes of Waitrose online – while #peasontoast has received millions of views on social media platform TikTok. It has also featured within The Guardian after The Fallow Restaurant in London began serving up peas on toast.

And there are hopes that peas on toast could knock the millennial-favourite avocado off its pedestal, not least because it is more environmentally friendly for diners in terms of food miles and growing.

Stephen Francis, managing director of Fen Peas, a co-operative of nearly 100 growers in Lincolnshire, is pleased to see the success of peas on toast – especially after the first recipe recently appeared as part of the nationwide Yes Peas campaign.

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He said: “I think it is great as we have been banging the drum about it for a long time.

“Historically people are used to having peas on the side of the plate but the Yes Peas campaign has over the years been pushing for peas to be the main event or a significant ingredient. We have tried even more things like pea ice-cream.

“We got an alert two or three weeks ago that the Guardian had come across a bistro in London that had taken on the idea of peas on toast as it is more environmentally friendly. It has been picked up by The Sun, The Telegraph and BBC Breakfast.

“We are aiming at avocado (on toast). Beans are so well established there is no knocking them off their perch!

“One thing that has given peas a push in the last year is the cost of living crisis. Peas are far more affordable than a avocado. The average retail price is for 1 kilo of peas is £2 per kilo.”

Climate change is another reason why people are moving away from the avocado.

Mr Francis said: “Since Covid, people are more environmentally conscious. People are also beginning to understand how much water is required to grow avocado – never mind the environmental footprint as these are flown in from places like Mexico. The health benefits of peas are as good if not better than avocado.

“In terms of the big things we have done this year, we have come up with recipes to engage the consumer more and more so they understand the process from field to fork, sustainability and the environmental side of peas.”

Lincolnshire is one of the largest pea producers in the country with about 90 growers in the Spalding, Stamford and Boston area, along with a few in the north of the county.

Mr Francis, who said that peas used to be a larger crop in the 1970s and 1980s, said: “Lincolnshire produces more than 50% of the UK pea crop. We have the largest concentration of pea growers.

“Growers of frozen peas in northern Europe produce 120,000 to 130,000 tonnes this year. We are about 93% self-sufficient.

“The only constraint is the number of frozen pea plants in the UK is limited.”

Growers begin to sow the pea seeds, which are produced by local merchants including Spalding’s Elsoms Seeds, in February and the crop does not have big impact on the environment as it does not require fertilizer. In recent years, fertilizer is one of the biggest costs facing farmers for all sorts of crops.

Mr Francis said: “We don’t need any fertilizer and peas produce more nitrogen than they need so they leave that in the soil for the following crop be it wheat or potatoes.

“One thing we do have to be careful of is that we cannot grow peas in the same field one in eight or ten years.”

Harvesting peas is a big job, with machinery heading out into the fields around the county and working 24 hours a-day over a seven day period, starting in late May.

Mr Francis said while the growing conditions were challenging in February when it was dry but Fen Peas achieved a 92% yield.

But one further success for the promotional campaign is that – after a long fight – there is now a pea emoji.

Mr Francis said: “We had to apply to create an emoji and finally after six years they approved it late last year. It’s a bit of fun and I would encourage people to use it.”

What do you think? Will you be switching to peas on toast? Post your thoughts in the comments below.