UK’s first commercial lentil crop harvested
The first commercial crops of lentils to be grown on UK farms will be harvested this week prior to sale in the autumn. Suffolk-based company Hodmedod has worked with farmers since 2015 on a range of pilot crops as part of an attempt to reintroduce UK-grown beans, peas and pulses. The company, whose lentils are organic, has been praised by chefs and restaurateurs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Mark Hix, Jamie Oliver and Yotem Ottolenghi. Most lentils sold in the UK are imported from India and tend to have a bland taste due to mass production. 
The UK’s first commercial crops of lentils, grown on farms in Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Suffolk, Sussex and Wiltshire are being harvested this week before going on sale in the autumn.

Blazing the trail is Hodmedod, a Suffolk-based pioneer of British-grown pulses and grains founded five years ago, which has worked with UK farmers since 2015 on a series of trial crops leading to 24 acres of organic lentils being picked and packed this season.

The company is on a mission to reintroduce British-grown beans, peas and pulses and has already won the high-profile backing of chefs and restaurateurs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Yotem Ottolenghi, Jamie Oliver and Mark Hix.

Most lentils on sale in the UK are imported from India – the primary producer – or Canada, but mass production means they tend to have a bland taste with no trace of the earthy, peppery flavour they should have.

Lentils are a notoriously difficult crop and have never been grown on a large or commercial scale in the UK. Low-growing and typically yielding no more than two lentils in each short pod, they need a warm, dry autumn to ripen for harvest. Yet they are thought to have been one of the earliest cultivated ‘legumes’ in the UK, with traces found on prehistoric sites.



“We’d always wanted to grow lentils but were repeatedly told it just wasn’t possible,” said Hodmedod co-founder Josiah Meldrum. “Then we met some inspiring German lentil farmers who told us to just plant them and see what happened. We did and it turns out lentils grow well here, the trick is keeping them weed-free and harvesting them – skills we’ve been learning over the last few years.”

Lentils come in a variety of different colours and sizes, including red lentils and speciality varieties such as Puy lentils (grown in the Le Puy region of France). Hodmedod’s lentils are a mixture of varieties including Rosanna and Flora and the variety grown in Puy.

The new lentils will be showcased in a pop-up restaurant at London’s Borough Market for the whole of September and at other UK food and drink festivals, including Abergavenny and Aldeburgh. They will also go on sale online and via independent retailers and wholefood shops.



