Discounter wins trade body’s top prize for supporting domestic soft fruit after 46 per cent increase in sales of British berries
Lidl has been crowned Retailer of the Year 2025 by British Berry Growers at the crop association’s annual retailer event.
The win comes after the discounter recorded, on average, a 46 per cent increase in sales of British berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries).
The annual awards from the industry body, which represents 95 percent of British berries sold in the UK, follow the lead of the British Apples & Pears trade body, which also tracks and rewards retailer support for domestic fruit. This year the soft fruit prizes have been expanded, with new awards by berry type as well as a Special Recognition Award.
It follows a standout season for British berries, which enjoyed strong growing conditions after a warm spring and summer.
British Berry Growers’ chair Nick Marston said: “On behalf of all our growers, I’d like to thank all our retail partners for their superb performances across each of the four British berries. But with an average increase across all four berries of 46 per cent, Lidl’s performance was exceptionally strong.”
Beyond the coveted Retailer of the Year award, Lidl was also crowned Strawberry Retailer of the Year, following a 22 per cent increase in its sales of the UK’s favourite berry, and Raspberry Retailer of the Year after a 46 per cent increase in its sales of raspberries.
Asda was crowned British Blueberry Retailer of the Year after recording an astonishing 239 per cent increase in its sales, while Aldi took the Blackberry Retailer of the Year crown for a 66 per cent increase in sales of the blackberries.
The runners-up in each category were:
- Strawberries: Iceland (18 per cent rise in sales)
- Raspberries: M&S (23 per cent rise in sales)
- Blueberries: Lidl (69 per cent rise in sales)
- Blackberries: Lidl (46 per cent rise in sales)
Ocado, meanwhile, was given the new Special Recognition Award for outstanding performance in year-on-year British berry sales.
Marston added: “We’ve seen an increase of more than 10 per cent across sales of all berries and all retailers, taking us to over 120,000 tones of berries for the season. That’s a lot of goodness we’re delivering to UK consumers.
“In a world where there is so much noise about HFSS foods and ultra-processed foods, it feels great to see such strong support for healthy, entirely natural and delicious British berries.
“This year has seen an amazing crop of berries grown by our members, not just packed with goodness, but unbelievably sweet too.
“We are grateful to receive such strong support from so many retailers, support which is still vital given ongoing issues around food inflation and labour costs.
“As an industry we have made significant efforts to inform and educate consumers about just how wonderful our berries are and how they make a fantastic addition to almost any breakfast.”
