British taste buds tantalised by piri-piri

Portuguese cuisine is said to have influenced British diners to lap up chilli, corn on the cob and sweet potatoes.

Nandos, the fast-growing piri-piri chicken restaurant chain, has tickled the British palate and is said to be behind the soaring demand for spicy food.

‘Generation Nandos’ has been given the credit by vegetable grower Barfoots.

“It’s because of the Nandos generation,” says Peter Barfoot of the eponymous family firm. “They love hot food just like they love their sweetcorn.”

Barfoots is the largest producer of sweetcorn in the UK and supplies 50% of the nation’s sweet potatoes. Nandos is its third largest customer for sweetcorn and orders 30 tonnes of sweet potato wedges each week.

Barfoots reported a 52% rise in corn on the cob sales over the past five years.

The firm has paid more attention to chilli, claiming it can now produce any variety at any time of year. Traditionally, chillis were imported from many places but were often only available in small, unsustainable amounts

“Chillis are addictive,” Mr Barfoot said. “Young people are always looking for the next hottest thing.”

The producer farms across 500 acres in the UK, including a warm patch near Bognor Regis, as well as 500 in southern Spain. It works with farms in 32 countries to get year-round production, including air-mile heavy countries such as Senegal and Peru.

Barfoots grows 12 to 14 vegetables at any one time and prides itself on spotting trends for different vegetables, whether it was sweetcorn in the ’70s, courgettes in the ’80s, butternut squash in the ’90s but sweetcorn remains the ‘diamond’ in Barfoots' crown, its founder said.

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