Cucumber growers in bid for EC protection

THE Cornish pasty has it and so does the Melton Mowbray pork pie – and now cucumbers could join them after growers applied for protected status from the European Commission for the salad item.

The Lea Valley Growers’ Association (LVGA) in Hertfordshire has made a bid for the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) label, which would see its cucumbers officially renamed and sold as Lea Valley cucumbers.

Lea Valley is the UK’s largest cucumber producer and is responsible for 80 million each year – accounting for 75 per cent of the country’s total – the association says.

The region’s version of the product is said to taste watery, juicy and less bitter than rival cucumbers, their seeds lending them a hint of freshness. They also have thinner skins and do not require peeling.

The Lea Valley bid for protected status comes in the wake of the recent E.coli scare, in which British cucumbers were boycotted after an outbreak of the infection in Germany was wrongly attributed to Spanish ones.

It also coincides with the association’s centenary celebrations this year.

LVGA secretary Lee Stiles said the move was not just symbolic.

“The cucumbers produced here are of a higher quality than you’d get from other regions of the UK and abroad,” he said.

“And if they are called ‘Lea Valley cucumbers’, consumers would be more educated about where they come from.”

Growers in the region lost about £1.5 million a week due to a drop in sales and consumer confidence sparked by fears of E.coli over the summer, he said.

“Having protected status would have been ideal in that situation,” he added.

The association expects to learn in a few months whether its bid for protected status is successful.