British farms go exotic and cut food air miles

By Amie Ferris-Rotman

WISBECH, England (Reuters Life!) - Companies across Britain are growing and selling non-traditional food at home to satisfy increasingly adventurous palates and ease environmental concerns about food flown in from abroad.

Chinese pak choi cabbage, South American chillies, Feta cheese and wine are now grown or produced on British soil, and demand for them is increasing.

When Cherry Farms -- Britain's largest pak choi farm -- set up four years ago, all of its output went to Chinese consumers but 40 percent now goes to English customers and that figure is growing, Hong Kong native and farm proprietor David Lam told Reuters.

Main customers like British supermarket chains Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, J. Sainsbury Plc and Tesco have helped Lam's business grow to an annual turnover of about 2 million pounds ($3.95 million) in a British market of about 10 million pounds, Lam said.

"About 15 years ago, you could not imagine that rocket would be so popular in this country. And now it's chillies and Chinese vegetables," Lam said at his farm, which is spread over 35 acres

in Cambridgeshire and staffed by Polish workers.

Being green and environmentally aware has boosted the exotic food market's success.

"A certain percentage of the general public is not just looking at the price but also the story behind the product as well," said spokesman Dale Atkinson of the British Retail Consortium, an independent lobby group that represents 85 percent of British retailers.