Fife broccoli crisps company Growers Garden has officially launched their product at supermarket giant Morrisons.
Managing director Martin Peel says the response from customers at the local St Andrews Morrisons store has been excellent.
“Right now, we’re front of store and the sales are fantastic,” says Martin.
“We are going out to the stores everyday and sampling, and what we’re seeing is about 70% conversion. The people who try it, around 70% of them put it in their basket.”
The broccoli crisps are a healthy and nutritious alternative to high fat content potato crisps, without sacrificing the flavour.
The best thing about working for Growers Garden?
“It’s seeing people put our crisps in their baskets,” says Martin.
“It’s no longer a case of people thinking ‘broccoli crisps, that might be awful’ – they’re saying, ‘when can we get that in our store?’
How are the Fife broccoli crisps made? Basically a ‘fancy pasta machine’
At Growers Garden‘s base in Cupar, the no nonsense Fife broccoli crisps are made.
They use all the “wonky” broccoli that would otherwise become food waste, as most retailers don’t want to sell misshapen veg.
“We take the broccoli, it gets pureed up into a very fine paste,” explains 36-year-old dad Martin.
“We add it to our dry ingredients. That’s corn, potato, peas, spinach and a bit of salt.
“They all get mixed together and it goes through a process called extrusion. This basically turns it into a very thin flat sheet of material.
“And if you equated it to a very fancy pasta machine, you wouldn’t be that far off. That’s what it looks like!
“It passes under a roller and that roller cuts out the right shapes for us.
“So for the broccoli crisp it’s little oval pellets. But you could do squares or triangles or circles or planes or even hippos.
“So then we’ve got the pellets. Then go into the fryer and flavouring drum and then into the bags.
“And that’s the finished product!
“There’s not a huge amount of steps involved in it, which is nice.
“It keeps the operation as simple as it can be. As much as my production manager would disagree with that,” he jokes.
‘We’re not saying put the crisps down and go eat a raw broccoli’
These broccoli crisps are a healthier options for both kids and adults, without skimping on the flavourful hit of potato crisps.
“We only fry the product for about five or six seconds or so,” says Martin, “so you retain a lot of the nutrition benefits of the broccoli compared to a potato crisp which is fried for a much longer period of time.
“This means our products only have about half the fat of potato crisps.
“So it’s a much healthier option.”
Martin thinks that cheap, healthy options like their Growers Gardens crisps are a potential solution for fighting the obesity epidemic.
“For us, we’re not saying put the crisps down and go eat a raw broccoli,” says Martin.
“If you pick up a bag of crisps, it’s because you want that kind of fatty, salty hit.
“So we give people that with our broccoli chips just in a healthier way.”
People can now afford the healthier option.”
Martin Peel, managing director at Growers Garden
“If you go into a supermarket at the minute, it is cheaper to buy a frozen pizza for a pound than it is to buy fresh fruit and veg and cook a meal from scratch,” continues Martin.
“It’s just become cheaper and more convenient for people and their kids to eat unhealthily.
“At Growers Garden, we’ve made this healthier product, and we’ve managed to get the price down to be in line with potato crisps.
“So people can now afford the healthier option.”
How do the Fife broccoli crisps taste?
So do the Growers Garden crisps, now sold in Morrisons, actually taste any good?
“The original flavour you taste the broccoli more,” explains Martin.
“Sour cream and chive flavour is the best seller by far. There’s also chilli and cheese.
“The cheese one is popular with kids – it tastes like Quavers.
“My three-year-old gets a bag of those with his lunch every day. It’s healthier than Quavers, and now he’s going to grow up eating broccoli.
“I feel like I’ve done my job as a parent now,” he laughs, “I’ve got my kid to eat broccoli!”
Morrisons a great step for Growers Gardens – but they won’t stop selling small
Historically, Growers Gardens sales began in local farm shops and cafes.
“But we still supply a lot of those farm shops and delis,” adds Martin “and for me, it’s quite important that we do.
“These are the customers that stuck by us over the last five years, so we will not be changing that model whatsoever.
“While we will be supplying retailers and some of the bigger wholesalers we will not forget those independents and how they supported us because they helped to get the brand where it is today.”
Growers Garden crisps are now sold in several Morrisons stores, including St Andrews, Edinburgh Gyle, Edinburgh Ferry Road, Perth, East Kilbride Lindsayfield, Glasgow Partick, Glasgow Anniesland & Glasgow Auchinlea.
The product has also launched in hundreds of Co-op stores in England, with more retail rollouts planned this year.
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