Gherkins

09/12/2021

In a year where the world has witnessed more extreme and problematic weather patterns, foodstuffs around the globe have suffered.  The entire food cycle has been affected, be it cultivation, transportation or consumption.

One example comes in the form of Essential’s organic gherkins.  Our usually abundant supply is meticulously grown in Southern Germany, but the harvest this year was particularly bad due to cold and rainy weather.  As a result, the yield ended far earlier than usual.  Essential were informed by our farmers that the field remained too wet to grow any produce for the remainder of the year; the waterlogged fields meant that the quantity of the plants decreased dramatically and it made no sense to start picking. 

It wasn’t just Essential’s gherkin farmers who had been affected by the disruptive weather, however.  The situation applied for most of Europe’s gherkin farmers.  The Buying team at Essential have been working tirelessly to source new gherkin supplies, but we have come to the conclusion that success is unfortunately extremely unlikely.

Despite this, Essential are confident that the next gherkin harvest due in September 2022 will be a successful one, as the growers have experienced something out of the ordinary and will therefore be better prepared going forwards.

It’s important to note that Essential’s other products in this jarred range - apple puree, baked beans, beetroot, sauerkraut, sweetcorn – have not been affected by the weather conditions and remain freely available.