Colours could boost cauliflower kid-appeal

Getting children to eat their greens has been an age old problem for parents.

But new rainbow-coloured cauliflowers could tip the balance in their favour in the fight for healthy food on the dinner table.

It is hoped the vivid orange, emerald green and shocking pink varieties of the humble vegetable will widen its appeal to youngsters and combat a dip in demand. Along with traditional white varieties, they will be sold in a "rainbow pack" from today, exclusively by Tesco.

Grown in Lincolnshire, the coloured cauliflowers are all naturally produced but have been crossed with other types of the brassica family, which includes green cabbage and broccoli, to make exciting colour variations and boost falling sales.

It is hoped the move will help improve cauliflower popularity after it was overtaken by broccoli. Tesco said statistics from retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel show in the last two years volume sales of cauliflower have fallen by 6.5 per cent across all retailers while demand for broccoli has grown by 2.5 per cent.

Tesco greens buyer Jeni Gray said: "These cauliflowers are almost works of art and have a real wow factor that should really create a stir with shoppers and hopefully children at dinnertime.

"Cauliflower got its poor image from baby boomer generation schoolchildren who generally loathed them as they were always being told to eat their greens for health reasons.

"When food was rationed during and after the Second World War cauliflower became part of the nation's staple meat and two veg diet at school and at home."