British Rhubarb In Waitrose From This Week

Delia Does It For Rhubarb

Our blog entry earlier this month, “Delia Does It For Rhubarb”, reported that due to the awful British winter, domestic rhubarb farmers were not able to meet all the demand created by the doyenne of British cooking when her recipe for Rhubarb Creme Brulee was publicised by Waitrose.

UK Grower Frustration

At the time a representative of the Yorkshire Growers Association expressed the frustration felt by producers “I can’t understand why Waitrose has publicised this rhubarb recipe at a time when it is difficult getting both forced and outdoors-grown rhubarb in the UK.”

Unprecedented Demand

Timing seasonal events that are at the mercy of the weather is never easy, predicting consumer demand can be just as difficult, so Waitrose can be forgiven for what happened after the recipe went into circulation; demand was unprecedented “in the four days after the advertising was aired we sold as much rhubarb as we’d normally expect to sell within 14 weeks” Gill Smith of Waitrose explained to Shop Floor Reporter.

100% British Rhubarb

Faced with this surge in demand Waitrose and other supermarkets were forced to supplement UK supplies with European produce. However before the advertising campaign went live, Waitrose confirms “we sourced all the British Rhubarb we could get our hands on”. But there is definitely good news from Waitrose for UK producers and consumers this week, Gill Smith informs us that, “all the rhubarb in our shops will be 100% British within the next few days”.

Delia Collectibles

As for the Delia recipe that started the Rhubarb Stampede, it will be part of a collection of Delia recipes for Waitrose customers to keep; this augurs well for British rhubarb throughout the season. Thank you Delia and thank you Waitrose.

Yin Yang Skincare supports British Growers & Producers.