Nutritionists are forever urging us to ‘eat the rainbow’ in order to be more healthy – and now, at last, it looks as if the message for adding colourful vegetables to the plate is starting to resonate.
In the past year – and particularly the last few months – Tesco has seen rocketing demand for different coloured vegetables such as rainbow chard, rainbow carrots, purple broccoli, dark purple Cavolo Nero and pink onions.
These include the following:
- Rainbow carrots – demand up 100 per cent this autumn versus last
- Pink onions – demand up 100 per cent this autumn
- Rainbow chard – demand up 70 per cent this autumn
- Cavolo Nero – demand up by more than 30 per cent in last year
- Purple broccoli – demand up by 10 per cent in last year
And the new trend is even prompting UK vegetable growers to plant more of these colourful vegetable varieties to meet the growing demand.
One grower who has reported the trend is A H Worth, based near Spalding in Lincolnshire who has started growing rare red kale which is to be launched at Tesco in the coming weeks.
The company has also seen demand for Cavolo Nero, which is also known as ‘black cabbage’, unexpectedly soar by 20 per cent in the last year.
And nearby brassica specialist grower, TH Clements, of Boston, Lincolnshire has seen demand for purple sprouting broccoli rocket so much that it now grows three times as much as it did in 2022.
We are seeing a definite surge in demand for more unusual, brightly-coloured vegetables in a trend which has become especially pronounced in the last few months.
“This summer we saw all-time record demand for fruit with millions of extra packs of berries, cherries, watermelons, pineapples, grapes, bananas among the top sellers.
“With this latest increase it would appear that more shoppers are now actively looking for healthy vegetables in order to improve their nutritional intake.
“As a direct result of this rainbow vegetables trend we have decided to stock red kale which will be going on sale in a matter of weeks.
A H Worth which is growing the red kale for Tesco said that demand for brassica in general was at its highest in living memory.
Kale has never been more popular in the UK and shoppers are finding it a very versatile vegetable that is equally delicious in salads as it is worth a traditional roast dinner.
“But we’re also hearing that it has become a favourite with the younger generation who are whisking it up in smoothies.
“In the spring we decided to trial planting red kale as this variety is slightly sweeter and the bold colouring helps brighten up salads and smoothies in the dark winter months.
Tesco Company Nutritionist Natasha Maynard said that evidence shows there are significant health benefits to getting at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day.
A variety of colour not only gives a strong visual impact on your plate, but different coloured fruits and vegetables contain different vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain good health.
“To get the most benefit, try to eat one portion from each colour group. Choose from red, green, yellow, white, purple and orange varieties of fruits and vegetables.
