Ginger Beer Battered Fish, Organic Ginger & Mountain Water

Congratulations to Nick Attfield and The Fish Hut, his award-winning fish and chip van in Southwold, Suffolk. He has just won the Best Main Dish award for his Lowestoft Longline-Caught Cod In Ginger Beer Batter at the British Street Food Awards 2012.

I've just been reading an extract from Seaports of India and Ceylon by Allister Macmillan (published in 1925 I think). Remember, I read anything and everything about ginger. Anyway, there is a page on the New Colombo Ice Company from what was then known as Ceylon. The company made a non-alcoholic ginger beer under the Elephant brand name in amber glass bottles. It switched from stone to glass for hygiene reasons and because, as Macmillan says, "fearful things creep into stone bottles, and remain there undetected in death, however great care may be exercised in prevention".

In 1941, New Colombo Ice Company changed its name to Ceylon Cold Stores Limited which it had bought in 1934. In the 21st century, the Ceylon Cold Stores flagship product is Elephant Ginger Beer (commonly known as EGB). It is still sold in amber glass bottles.

Organic farming is becoming very popular in Uganda, according to a recent article in All Africa. The National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda represents the organic production of a wide range of crops including ginger. These crops, which command a higher price than non-organic products, are sent for export with the assistance of the Uganda Export Promotions Board. The export of organic ginger could be extremely profitable as it is becoming highly sought-after. At present, the major organic ginger exporters are China and India. The highly regarded organic ginger from Hawaii tends to be marketed on the US mainland.

The North Wales Brewery has an interesting unique selling point. Based on a hillside at Moelfre, near Abergele, the brewery produces a range of drinks from real ales to non-alcoholic ginger beer. But what makes the drinks of interest, according to the Daily Post, is the water. After becoming disenchanted with their domestic water supply, the owners brought in a water diviner to locate an alternative source. They eventually found water at 500ft and now pump up enough through the granite and slate to produce 3,000-4,000 pints a week.

Nepalese ginger exports through the Birgunj check point to India in the last fiscal year set a new record, according to The Himalayan. The 7,834 metric tonnes, worth Rs. 250.6 million, was three times higher than the previous year. Birgunj is Nepal's principal import and export point as well as being a major business centre.

Fresh Plaza reported on the big decline in the production of root crops in the Philippines during the first quarter of this year. It didn't state the reason why but two crops managed to buck this trend: ginger and sweet potato. What the article didn't mention was that ginger is often intercropped with sweet potato with both being grown under young coconut trees.

There's bad news for food shoppers in Pakistan, according to The News International. Apparently, now that summer season crops are giving way to winter season crops, prices of vegetables and salads have skyrocketed. The wholesale price of ginger has increased by 16%, a not inconsiderable sum.

World Beer Cup, Thai Cooking & Nepalese Ginger

I will start this week by announcing that the All Things Ginger website is back again after changing our hosting ISP and domain registrar. At the time it felt as traumatic as moving house but, on reflection, it wasn't that bad.

Congratulations to the Hardywood Park Craft Brewery for winning a bronze medal in the Herb & Spice Beer category at the 2012 World Beer Cup for its Hardywood Gingerbread Stout. The brewery, from Richmond in Virginia, brewed the imperial milk stout with fresh local ginger and honey. If you think that 'fresh local ginger' is a mistake, think again. Ginger cultivation is becoming quite popular in Virginia, albeit under cover. The ginger used in this beer is grown locally at Casselmonte Farm. The brewery's own page for the beer contains a You Tube video about the making of the beer.

If you like to read business and company histories, you'll find this Morning Advertiser article about Hartridges, the soft-drinks company, particularly interesting. I read it because Hartridges makes a lovely ginger beer which my wife describes as the best she has ever tasted.

Australia is interested in investing in Pakistan's agriculture sector, according to the Pakistan Agriculture blog. Although the post didn't contain any specifics, I would imagine that Australia is interested in ginger. Consumption of ginger in Australia is increasing but domestic production is limited. Last year, Pakistan exported 18 tonnes of ginger to Australia compared with 28 tonnes from Indonesia. But, significantly, the ginger from Pakistan was nearly two-thirds cheaper.

Thai cooking is very popular in the UK. You can find a wide range of Thai recipe books in many bookshops. Thai restaurants are established in many towns and cities. Now you can read about Thai ginger cooking in Thailand itself in the Chiangrai Times.

I've been reading an interesting USAID report from last year on the ginger sector in Nepal. I knew already that ginger is an important crop, particularly as an export commodity to India. What I didn't know is that the unit cost of ginger exported to India is considerably cheaper that the unit cost of ginger imported from India. Is the quality of Indian ginger superior?

The USAID report states that the major competitors of Nepalese ginger are Assam, Bangalore, Tibet and the internationally famous Cochin. Stiff competition indeed but I've never heard of Tibetan ginger. Can anyone help?

I also discovered from the report that ginger comes top of the list of spices grown in Nepal in terms of land use and production. In fact, ginger production is nearly twice that of garlic, turmeric, chilli and cardamon combined. I wonder if the Australians have considered this as a potential source?

To finish this week, here is a You Tube video of a ginger harvest in Andhra Pradesh, India. Unfortunately, it is not in English but it is still very watchable.

Carbon Sink, Cowpea Pest, Minimally Processed Foods & Cheap Ginger

Halewood International, maker of the famous Crabbie’s ginger beer range, is the top food & drink firm in The Sunday Times top 100 list of British private companies with the fastest growing profits. The company came in at number 41 after reporting a 70.8% increase in annual profit growth, according to Food Manufacture. The article also mentioned that the Halewood range, including Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer, is sold in 40 countries.

The Sri Lanka Ministry of Agriculture will launch a project to increase the production of a number of crops including ginger. Although the article in the Daily News mentioned that the government will provide seeds and fertilisers, it did not reveal why the project is being undertaken. It must be the next step in the initiative announced last year to make the country self-sufficient. Today's Sunday Observer reports a call from a government scientist that both Sri Lanka and Pakistan should co-operate in agricultural research to improve farmers' incomes.

The week before last, Bermuda's Royal Gazette reported that John Barritt, a well-known Bermudan drinks company, had run out of ginger beer (see last week's post). The same source has now followed that story by reporting that Gosling, an equally well-known local drinks company, would like Bermudans to know that it did not run out of ginger beer over the same period. I wonder how much rivalry there is between these two businesses?

Interestingly, The Royal Gazette has now reported that Bermuda is also suffering from a shortage of the popular Carlsberg Elephant beer following shipping delays from Denmark.

The producer of Bundaberg Ginger Beer has announced a unique carbon offset project with CO2 Group, perth now reports. Bundaberg Brewed Drinks is collaborating with Australia's largest provider of carbon sink plantings by establishing an area of eucalypt species. 'Carbon sinks' are forests which are designed to capture and store carbon.

Bad news last week for ginger farmers in Nepal, The Kathmandu Post has reported. With ginger prices in India falling, traders have just not bothered to visit Nepalese villages. Farmers are now having to dispose of large quantities of ginger at low prices. When you consider that most Nepalese ginger is exported to India, the immediate future doesn't look to good. A vicious circle, really.

I may need a bit of help with this one. The Ghanian media, including the Ghana News Agency, are reporting that the government's Food and Drugs Board has destroyed large quantities of unsafe products in the Ashanti region including Butubutu Barimansuro Ginger Gin fruit juice. What is this ginger drink and why was it destroyed?

A new recipe book was published recently which may be worth a peruse. Lemongrass and Ginger - Vibrant Asian Recipes contains dishes from many ginger-growing countries in the region so I'm guessing that there is at least a smattering of ginger recipes. As you can tell, I've haven't actually seen the book but I will keep my eye open for it in my local high street bookseller.

A report in dti news indicates that Vietnam is unable to produce enough ginger to meet domestic demand. But it appears that increasing production will not solve the problem. The current shortfall is being filled by produce from China and these imports are a third cheaper than domestic ginger.

African Journals Online (AJOL) introduced me to a fascinating potential use for ginger. Cowpeas are an important food legume crop in Africa, Asia, southern Europe and Central and South America. Unfortunately, harvested cowpeas can be difficult to store as they are susceptible to infestation by a particular type of beetle. Callosobruchus maculatus, also known as the bruchid beetle or the cowpea weevil, is such a pest that the Gates Foundation has estimated that up to 50 percent of harvested cowpeas are lost each year in Africa to infestation. The research in AJOL investigated the potential benefits of using certain botanical materials on the beetle. The materials considered were powdered ginger, garlic and bitter leaf. It seems that the efficacy of these materials depends on the variety of cowpea being tested.

The Malaysian government's Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority is about to launch its Save On Kitchen Expenses programme. This initiative, according to the New Straits Times, will see 15 grocery items, including ginger, sold at up to 30 percent off when purchased at farmers' markets.

Three weeks ago I relayed a request for help in locating a branded ginger beer bottle, an important family history object. The Lancashire Evening Post has now reported that the search is over. A beer bottle and a flagon have been located.

The Pakistan Agriculture blog last week posted an article on the use of ginger oil as an anti-microbial agent and its use in Minimally Processed Foods (MPF). The public are increasingly demanding more natural foods and MDFs are a way of satisfying this demand but the lack of an acceptable shelf life is a major concern. The ginger oil has been shown to be effective in controlling micro-organisms in certain food products with the potential for wider use.

Rainforest Ginger, US Baby Ginger, Ginger Wine Ban & Tongling Ginger

Ginger is grown in many parts of the world and most of you will be familiar with the major players such as India, China and Nigeria, and even some of the minor players like Jamaica and Australia. But I can't imagine that many of you will be familiar with ginger from the Amazon Rainforest. To be more precise, ginger from the Peruvian, Ecuadorian and Brazilian rainforests. Ginger thrives in the rainforest understory which provides the ideal growing conditions of being very hot and very damp.

Following the recent report of neurology professor Pat McGeer eating ginger every day to prevent the possible onset of Alzheimer's Disease (see last post), the Vancouver Sun blog has since reported that McGeer buys crystallised (candied) ginger and that he nibbles it whilst drinking coffee.

A ginger production workshop was held last Wednesday in Siler City, North Carolina. It was aimed at first-time growers considering ginger as a speciality crop. Ginger farming on the east coast of the USA seems to be gaining ground with crops already being cultivated in North Carolina, Virginia and Maine using polytunnels. Crops here are normally harvested when immature i.e. 'baby' ginger. Baby ginger has a mild flavour and is quite aromatic. The Washington Post last year described baby ginger as tickling your palate instead of assaulting it.

Interestingly, many ginger farms in the US are advised by East Branch Ginger, a supplier of ginger 'seed' from Pittsboro, North Carolina. The company also deal with two other members of the ginger family, turmeric and galangal. At the time of writing, East Branch Ginger has sold out of all its products for the 2012 season.

The price of ginger in Pakistan went up by five percent during February 2012 according to the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Although FAFEN was originally set up to monitor Pakistan's political process, it now reports on many other aspects of society.

Australia's news.com reported the unusual news that cheap alcohol will be banned in Alice Springs for three days because an Australian rules football game will stretch police resources. What I think is unusual is that the ban applies to cask wine and fortified wines like port and green ginger wine. Here in the UK it is cheap supermarket lager that would be the problem.

And now this blog makes its first visit to Barbados, courtesy of The Barbados Advocate. It reported a speech given by Keeley Holder, an agriculture specialist and both founder and managing director of Produce Growers Limited, who has called for Barbados to expand its agriculture sector by identifying and then concentrating on niche export markets. She believes that niche markets can command premium prices. One possible market which has been identified is the interest from the United Kingdom for Barbadian ginger. Ginger has been grown in Barbados since the early English colonial days in the 1640s but its cultivation now needs to be expanded substantially as the country currently is a net importer of the crop.

A Fijian government blog reported that the government is encouraging more farmers in the Naitasiri province to move into ginger cultivation because of its high earnings potential. Reading between the lines in this blog and other sources, my understanding is that this year's ginger export commitments cannot be met by the predicted harvest. And to think that a year ago ginger farmers were struggling to find buyers for their crop. I hope that Fiji is just experiencing a temporary mismatch in the quantities growers can grow and exporters can sell.

In Fiji immature ginger is harvested from December to March and mature ginger is harvested from April to August.

In his continuing effort to expand ginger and other agricultural products, Roger Clarke, the Jamaican agriculture minister, has said that the government is prepared to allocate non-cash public assets if private companies supply the finance to invest in agriculture. Go-Jamaica reported that the non-cash assets would include land, buildings, human resources and support. Clarke's speech also mentioned that Jamaican ginger has been scientifically proven to be of a superior quality in terms of flavour and aroma. Jamaica should use this evidence to improve its current production level of only meeting ten percent of export orders.

The Gleaner from Jamaica had encouraging news stating that ginger production increased by 63 percent from 2008 to 2010. It also mentioned that cultivation acreage increased by 40 percent and the yield increased by 14 percent from 2.8 tonnes per hectare to 3.2 tonnes per hectare.

A few months ago I mentioned the story of how farmers in the Khotang district of Nepal were finding it difficult to either sell their ginger or diversify into ginger because of the lack of an adequate road network to send their produce to market. The Himalayan Times has now reported that farmers with access to a road network have been attracted to commercial ginger farming. It didn't say whether the farmers already had land close to a road or whether the farmers had moved closer to a road or, indeed, whether new roads have recently been built. But it does go to show that given a decent transport infrastructure businesses will flourish.

Another story last week from Khotang, this time in FN News Network. An enterprising farmer has gone one step further by adding value to his village's ginger output - he is converting it to juice. The ginger juice is selling well in the local market and providing an income for both the juice maker and the ginger farmers. Ginger juice is used in making ginger tea and also as an expectorant. If old ginger is used then the juice is potent enough to be used in spicy dishes. By the way, old ginger is ginger which is harvested after nine months.

A couple of statistics about Nepalese ginger. The first is that 60,000 families are involved in the ginger industry. The second is that 80% of ginger is exported to India. That's a lot of people dependent upon just one market.

I attempted last week to read a scientific research report called "Chemical Constituents and Their Bioactivities of 'Tongling White Ginger' (Zingiber officinale)" by the Kunming Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Tongling white ginger enjoys the accolade of being one of the finest gingers in China because of its thin white peel, tender flesh, rich juice and flavour. But apart from the essential oil, the chemical profile of this particular variety had not been examined in detail before. So a team conducted a study on an ethanol extract of the ginger and isolated 42 compounds of which four were previously unknown. If you want to read more about it be prepared to have to pay for full access to the research paper. I refused and probably found out more by a general Google search on "Tongling White Ginger".

Tongling, a city in southern Anhui Province, is known as the City of Eight Treasures. These treasures are, I believe, ginger, Paeonia ostii (a hardy shrub from the peony family), gold, silver, copper, iron, tin and garlic. Another source features hemp and sulphur instead of Paeonia ostii and garlic. As long as the list contains ginger, I'm happy.

Cold Patent Thwarted, Nepalese Ginger, Oil Price Fall & Taste Test

Well, it didn't take long. When I was writing the first post of the year last week I wondered how long would it be before Crabbie's made an announcement. Just four days later, off licence news reported that Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer will open a ski lodge at the Outdoors Show at ExCeL London, the international exhibition and convention centre, from January 12-15. Visitors will be able to rest and sample Crabbie's products at the 1950s-inspired lodge.

The Times of India carried the story that India has thwarted an attempt by a British pharmaceutical company to patent the use of ginger as a cold treatment. The company, revealed by IBN Live to be Nicholas John Larkins (I don't know if this is correct), wanted to patent a pharmaceutical composition containing ginger and kutki (the Picrorhiza kurroa rhizome) to treat cough, bronchial asthma and lung diseases. Two august Indian bodies, the Department of Ayush and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, responded by presenting texts from the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library showing centuries of evidence that ginger and kutki are traditional remedies. Back to the drawing board.

Last April I reported on the 30-60pc markup which Pakistani retailers charged for their Chinese ginger. Now we read of a similar situation in Nepal where retailers are charging up to 45pc above the wholesale price for products such as ginger compared to the normal 10-15pc markup. The report in Fresh Plaza stated that retailers are blaming rising transportation costs.

I have wondered why Nepal exports most of its own ginger to India but then imports large amounts from China. Is it anything to do with cost or quality? Apparently, the reason is quite straightforward according to one story I've read. Transport links in rural Nepal are so inadequate that it is cheaper to import than it is to bring the produce in from the countryside. About 96pc of ginger imports come from China with the balance from Ethiopia and, surprisingly, India.

Still in Nepal, farmers from the Khotang district are switching to cultivating ginger following an improvement in the transport network, according to The Himalayan Times. As I mentioned previously, ginger is a major export crop.

If you are an importer of Chinese ginger oil you will be pleased to read in agra-net.com that the price has fallen again and is now 21pc lower than the record high set early last year.The versatile oil is used in a wide range of products from food seasoning and condiments to cosmetics, perfumes and medicines.

A report appeared last week featuring the McCormick's global Flavour Forecast for 2012. Pleasingly, one of the 12 entries is a ginger and coconut combination. I can't show you the report as it seems to have disappeared from the hosting website (not mccormick.com). Did I dream it?

Indian farmers, in a desperate bid to make windfall profits, are now adopting a risky monocrop strategy. A report in Business Standard says that farmers are putting all their eggs in one basket and allowing their traditional business instincts to be dictated solely by crop prices and margins. Now, prices and margins are important elements in any business decision but to concentrate on one crop only and then face the vagaries of the weather, pests and international competition does seem to be a little foolhardy.

I know that I'm a little bit late with this news but I thought that you would still like to read it. Buderim Ginger commissioned a survey last year which found that 89pc of Australians ate, snacked, drank or cooked with ginger products. In addition, a third of Australians consumed ginger baked goods or ginger beer at least once a month or cooked with fresh ginger at least once a month. Buderim Ginger said that ginger's versatility was one of the reasons for its success.

The South African news site, iol, conducted a ginger beer taste test and came up with the rather interesting finding that only two of the five beers tested actually contained ginger. It's not just interesting, it's frightening really. So always check the ingredients and go for the real thing. If nothing else, you will be supporting farmers in developing countries.

Living With Tigers, Crabbie's & Toffees, Ginger Radler & Diversification

Tigers are popular and likeable creatures. Likeable, that is, to people who don't live and work in the same environment as the tigers. The difficulties in living alongside the tiger have come to the fore in Bandipur National Park (BNP) in southern Karnataka, India. The Deccan Herald reported that the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) has been brought in to combat the increasing incidents of tiger poaching. Unfortunately, some cases of poaching have allegedly involved ginger farmers who are unwilling or unable to share the BNP (a Project Tiger reserve) with the indigenous tiger.

The Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung ran an article about the increasing popularity of radlers. A radler is a beer-based mixed drink and is typically 50% beer and 50% German-style lemonade. A little bit like a shandy if you are outside of central Europe. The paper said that sales volume, in Austria I assume, has tripled over the past two years. Manufacturers are now considering extending the range of flavours to include herbs, grapefruit and, naturally, ginger. I've tried the traditional lemonade and quite enjoyed it. I suspect the ginger variant will be more like a ginger beer shandy than a ginger-spiced beer.

The Crabbie's team at Halewood International have been at it again. There is never a month which goes by without at least one announcement about a new product or another sponsorship deal or a new advertising campaign with Camilla and George. Just a fortnight after they announced the impending launch of a stronger version of their iconic alcoholic ginger beer they sign a deal to become the official ginger beer of Everton Football Club. The deal is only natural given that both parties share the same home county of Merseyside. For any marketing students out there, forget your textbooks. Just follow Crabbie's and watch a real life masterclass in how to promote a brand.

Pakistan Today made a compelling case for agricultural diversification as the answer to the problem of improving the lot of farmers. One view of diversification advocates the use of secondary crops to generate an additional or replacement income to that provided by the main crops. It is advised that secondary crops are selected on the basis of current market needs and conditions. Using that criteria. ginger fits the bill perfectly as demand is increasing worldwide. In addition, we have already seen ginger used as an intercrop elsewhere and we know that intercropping is a form of secondary crop management.

I've just read that Ginger Island is up for sale. It's an uninhabited national park in the British Virgin Islands. I don't know where its name comes from but I do know that it is on the market for $20 million. I think that I'll give it a miss.

We haven't had any responses yet to last week's request for help with Old English Ginger Wine from Rock & Rye Sales. It does seem to be very difficult but persevere please.

Royal Wedding Packaging, Ginger Tonic And Low Nigerian Stocks

Coca-Cola Enterprises will mark the forthcoming Royal Wedding between William & Kate by bringing out a Schweppes Canada Dry Ginger Ale in special limited edition themed packaging. Unusual but not surprising given that many businesses will be cashing in on the wedding. But it was only when I was delving a little deeper (I do like to delve) that I learnt that Schweppes is not actually manufactured by Schweppes, well, not in the UK anyway. The Schweppes brand is owned by Dr Pepper who make it in the US. In the UK and many other countries like Russia, Egypt, Vietnam and Russia it is made by Coca-Cola. In Denmark it is made by Carlsberg but I assume it is still non-alcoholic there. And in Poland it is made by Pepsico. I wonder how many other famous brands have their manufacture contracted out?

Still on the subject of Schweppes, Orangina Schweppes has launched a Ginger & Cardamom tonic in its Heritage tonic range. Unfortunately it is only available in Spain as Orangina Schweppes holds the rights to manufacture and distribute there (and France & Portugal). Message to Dr Pepper - don't forget the rest of us!

I've often wondered how much profit can be made from trading in ginger. Last week Pakistani retailers were buying Chinese ginger from a wholesale market for Rs75 per kg (down from Rs100 the week before) and selling it to consumers for Rs100-120 per kg. That is a markup of 30-60% which is a healthy profit by any measure.

Reports are emerging that Nigerian dried ginger stocks could run out by next month. With China concentrating its exports on the European market and India struggling to produce enough to cover increasing demand from both domestic and international markets, buyers have turned their attention to Nigeria. I find it strange that food and drink manufacturers can substitute one country's ginger for another country's ginger. Ginger from different parts of the world exhibit different characteristics such as in taste, smell and pungency. I liken ginger to wine; a Chardonnay from one region of France differs from a Chardonnay from another region of France and certainly differs from a Chardonnay from England or New Zealand or Chile. Terroir is just as important to ginger as it is to wine. Do manufacturers realise this?