How popular are barbecues?
 

Barbecues are gaining in popularity. The effects of global warming, more typical summer days, popularity of social occasions and also a strong European influence all encourage outside party situations which lend themselves to an 'al fresco' approach to cooking as well.

The 'usage-frequency' of barbecues is often directly proportional to an increase in the number of sunny daylight hours and an increase in the overall daytime temperature. A few days of warm weather during the summer months sees the supermarket shelves depleted of salad vegetables and 'barbecue' cuts of meat.

There is a definite social aspect to BBQs. A more relaxed atmosphere, integration of the culinary element into the main party and the more communal approach to the event are typical of a BBQ party.

In contrast to many other planned events, a large percentage of consumers decide to hold a barbecue on the day. According to the National BBQ Association, the barbecue is not seen as being price sensitive, with the majority of consumers now spending over £20 on each event.

When does the 'season' kick off and finish?
BBQs really kick off when the weather improves, and April sees the real start of the season, peaking in June, July and August. The season often continues through September, especially if there is an 'Indian summer' but rarely continues into October.

International events often encourage a surge in BBQs. For example the World Cup in 2006 was a perfect excuse to arrange social events and BBQs became very popular during this time.

How far are we moving away from traditional recipes?
As a nation, we have become a lot more experimental in terms of incorporating different international recipes and flavours into our existing national cuisine. The influx of different cultures into the U.K. has had a direct influence on food styles and this applies to BBQ cooking as well. What's intriguing is how more cosmopolitan external recipes have managed to integrate successfully with pre-existing conventional ones, and created an entirely separate novel recipe. Consumers are also more willing to experiment, and new flavours from the Caribbean, India, South Africa, Australia, the Far East and regional United States are now all contributing to the barbecue event.

What new and interesting ingredients are making their way to the grill?
The influence of other cultures and greater availability of more exotic ingredients has led to more sophistication and experimentation in barbecue styles. Rather than the traditional plain cooking sausages, burgers and steaks, recent years have seen a wider use of marinades and spicy accompaniments to add variety and excitement to menus. For example the use of balsamic vinegar as a marinade has now found its way to the barbecue, and Indian and Thai influences have seen an increased popularity of paprika and chilli to add interest to traditional meat dishes.

Conventional vegetables still remain popular, but a strong visual effect is reflected in rustic cuts rather than finely prepared haute cuisine style. New ingredients heading towards this summer's grill typically include green, yellow and red peppers, onions and baby onions, aubergines, courgettes, butternut squashes, and all-time favourites such as, corn on the cob.

Parripak Foods, one of the UK's largest processors of fresh vegetables to chilled-food manufacturers now offer a range of specialised vegetable products for BBQ style foods, including prepared vegetable ingredients such as pepper squares, sweet corn wheels and baby onions, for skewered kebabs.

Parripak's product development manager, Neil Arvanitis said. "Ready prepared products play an increasingly important role within the barbecue industry, so freshness of product is paramount and fast delivery and turnaround times vital to meet the needs of this discerning marketplace." He continued. "Unlike other product lines where vegetables such as diced carrots and potatoes can be machine cut, products such as kebabs require a higher specification and a greater attention to detail. To meet these requirements we have a 'bespoke products' area where the products are all individually hand finished to tailor for the particular needs of the customer."

What's new in terms of equipment?
In terms of new equipment, the classic barbeque and its stand will never fade away and will always remain a timeless icon for family and friendly gatherings, as well as, being a stereotypical symbol for the new-age party goers.

The suggestion that cooking using charcoal may increase the risk of free radicals, which in turn can cause cellular DNA damage, may be one of the health driven influences behind the increasing popularity of gas barbecues, though the speed and ease of use may also be an influence.

While not replacing barbecues, the very popular 'grilling machines' and the Australian style hotplate barbecues are being used to supplement the cooking armamentarium. While they are fully capable of achieving the same admirable cooking results, they often lack the outstanding sensory profile attributed to the conventional barbecue method of cooking.

How are retailers making the most of the barbecue season?
Retailers often pitch their vegetable products towards 'barbecuers' by offering a series of interesting and exciting medleys of fresh vegetables in highly-visible and colourful packaging. This is often accompanied by heavy marketing promotion, again, placing considerable emphasis on the visual aspect of the product.

In most cases, a shift towards a warmer season and subsequent improvement in the weather will also stimulate alcoholic beverage manufacturers to also promote their products towards the same audience. This acts as an additional bonus for vegetable manufactures as the beverage marketing campaign also captivates the consumer's attention by displaying the combined exciting experience of having both a barbecue party and enjoying a pleasant refreshing alcoholic drink at the same time.

What would manufacturers like to see them do differently?
Instead of just displaying vegetables in their conventional manner, to be more pro-active in displaying vegetables in a form that visually lends them to supplementing barbecues. For example having prepared rustic cuts of conventional vegetables that can be immediately used without further preparation.

What innovations are retailers demanding from manufacturers?
Manufactures and retailers would most definitely benefit from each other by working hand-in-hand by improving the communication-link between the two. This can be achieved by understanding what the majority of consumers are interested in and on top of that, taking on a more proactive approach by continuously offering novel and exciting vegetable varieties/sub categories. An interesting method of drawing in additional consumers could be by offering a series of exciting pre-packed vegetable products alongside barbecue equipment and stands.

Manufacturers of vegetarian food are increasingly targeting barbecue occasions.
The anti-oxidants in fresh vegetables are an ideal way to counter the free radicals that are reputed to be induced by the barbecuing process. As well as salads, using fresh vegetables either raw, or skewered on kebabs is an excellent way not only to ensure intake of the '5 a day' , but adds variety to the finished presentation.

SALADS, SAUCES AND ACCOMPANIMENTS
How popular is salad?
Apart from the warmer summers, a greater awareness of the health benefits of fresh salad has seen increased uptake of salad vegetables. A greater variety of vegetable species are now available, and consumers are experimenting with and using far more varieties than before. Apart from the different varieties of lettuce (Iceberg, Cos, Chinese) other green leaves such as rocket are gaining in popularity. Similarly many more varieties of tomatoes (such as Piccolo) are now widely available, together with exotic salad ingredients such as the eye catching golden beetroot which has the added benefit of not staining like it's red cousin.

How can retailers make the most of merchandising (siting accompaniments products next to salad etc)
If examples of unusual food components that make mouth-watering dishes that lend themselves to 'al fresco' cooking were exhibited beside displays of barbecue equipment, it would encourage more experimentation, and increased sales both of the equipment and foodstuffs. Similarly active demonstrations, showing more unusual approaches to barbecues would stimulate POS purchases.

Ethnic recipes and marinades are making the barbecue more of a gourmet occasion.
Again, the cosmopolitan influence is strong encouraging experimentation with different finishing touches to barbecue menus. To aid this transition Parripak Foods now provide a full range of garlic, ginger, chilli and other vegetable purees for use in dips, salsas and sauces.