More than a third of organic potatoes and 40 per cent of organic carrots do not make it onto supermarket shelves, new research published by the Food Chain Centre has revealed.

Freshinfo reports that with some vegetables deemed too big, too small, too misshapen, too damaged or affected by pests and disease, many end up in processing or animal feed. This creates a huge loss of profitability for sector.

Only 59 per cent of organic carrots sold in the UK are grown in the UK, according to the report, and the FCC said competition from abroad, coupled with high production costs, is putting the organic chain under pressure, necessitating the need for businesses to enhance efficiency. To combat this problem, the FCC teamed up with producers and retailers to analyse the supply chain and look for improvements.

A study into carrots featured organic growers TaylorGrown, and RB Organic (RBO), along with Waitrose. RBO worked with suppliers and customers to identify possible improvements, resulting in the creation of an RBO carrot growers club with the goal of getting 70 per cent of carrots on to supermarket shelves. It also planned a re-design of its packhouse, cutting time spent on packing by reducing its size and removing staff. To help reach targets, it also implemented a set of performance measures and initiated a value management team to drive improvements.

A study into the potato sector featured grower MB Organics, processor Greenvale AP, and Sainsbury‘‘s. It looked at increasing order accuracy by co-forecasting with retailers, but also focused on reviewing product specifications to give greater value to the consumer and selling some produce at a reduced price. In order to improve packhouse efficiency, it evaluated the merits of packaging in trays over the current brown paper outers used.

This report should be available within a week, let us know if you would like a copy by email when it launched