Supermarket reports surging demand for ‘flavour of the moment’ rhubarb

A UK supermarket has reported that demand for forced rhubarb has rocketed by 200% compared with the same time last year, amid a boom in rhubarb-flavoured products.

Tesco said that out-of-season forced rhubarb, made to grow early through use of warmth and darkness, is widely considered to be the more tender and sweeter variety.

Forced rhubarb is available from January until around March, with the field variety grown from April until October.

Tesco supplier Place UK, a grower based in Tunstead near Norwich, has also reported that demand for forced rhubarb has soared by more than 170% since 2019.

The supermarket has almost 40 different products that feature rhubarb in some form.

These include flavoured spirits such as vodka and gin, dessert pies, rhubarb and custard sweets, anti-bacterial spray, tea lights, and the latest product to hit the shelves – rhubarb and custard hot cross buns.

Tesco rhubarb buyer Paul Curtis said: “Rhubarb has very much become the flavour of the moment and besides being a classic dessert in crumble form with custard, is now considered one of the most popular flavourings and scents in many food, drink and household products.

“Who would ever have thought that one day there would be rhubarb scented washing up liquid, candles and even loo paper.

“Right now is the peak of the forced rhubarb season, which lasts from the end of January until late March and it’s when rhubarb is at its sweetest and most flavoursome.

“And the current trend is creating record demand.”

Production of forced rhubarb has expanded beyond the so-called rhubarb triangle around Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell in West Yorkshire, with its popularity encouraging more UK producers to grow it.

Norfolk grower Place UK now produces more than 25 tonnes of early season forced rhubarb per year.

Place UK head of fresh operations Dan Yordanov said: “Rhubarb is a tremendously versatile vegetable, and we’re not surprised to see it now gaining popularity in a wide variety of food and drink products.

“We’ve seen demand particularly grow for the forced variety which is currently in season and as a result we have planted around 30% more in the last five years.

“To give you some example of how popular it’s become, in 2019 we sold just under 25,000 packs to the food retail and manufacturing industry and last year we sold more than 65,000 packs.”

The first English recipes for cooked rhubarb appeared in the 18th century.

Legend has it that the origins of forced rhubarb were a happy accident in 1815, when labourers working at Chelsea Physic Garden accidentally buried a bed of rhubarb with soil while digging a trench.

When the debris was later removed, the long pink stems of forced plants were discovered – with the findings reported in the Horticultural Society Journal and commercial growers inspired by the idea.