 Winter cauliflower production is centred on Kent and Cornwall |
Farmers who grow cauliflowers during winter months say price pressure from supermarkets and cheap foreign imports is hitting their business. One grower, Geoff Philpott, from Broadstairs, Kent, said some farmers were considering halting production.
One of the county's biggest producers is reportedly set to withdraw 700 acres as they are not financially viable.
Parts of Kent and Cornwall have been able to sustain cauliflowers in winter as they remain relatively frost-free.
Mr Philpott said lower supermarket payments for the crop had seen the overall acreage gradually decline.
'Proper price'
He said: "I had to forego supplying one supermarket about eight weeks ago because we got down to a price of 15p home to me, which was 23p below the cost of production."
An industry website lists one farm on the Isle of Thanet which is to stop growing cauliflowers on 700 acres.
Mr Philpott and another vegetable grower spoken to by the BBC confirmed that production was being stopped at a farm near Margate.
He said the situation was similar in Cornwall, where he claimed six cauliflower growers covering about 1,000 acres were set to quit by the end of the year.
He said the supermarkets should not be importing cheaper products from abroad.
"If they want really good quality cauliflowers, they've got to be prepared to pay the proper price for an English product."
A spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium said 84% of cauliflowers sold in Britain's supermarkets were "home grown", but that the stores had to "work closely with suppliers to ensure consumers were offered a wide range at the best possible prices".
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