New-season outdoor crop starts to arrive following positive April conditions, as retailer expects roughly one million punnets in next week
Tesco says brilliant sunshine and above-average temperatures for April have boosted the UK’s outdoor production of strawberries, as the first commercial volumes begin to land in supermarkets.
The first punnets arrived in the group’s stores at the weekend in Surrey, Kent, Herefordshire and London, with nearly half of the country expected to follow this week.
The supermarket said it would receive 300 tonnes of UK-grown fruit – roughly one million punnets – during the next few days, representing an increase of more than 100 per cent compared with just three weeks ago.
And with the whole of its UK store network set to be supplied by mid-May, the retailer said it would need to rely less on Spanish and Moroccan imports over the next few weeks.
“The start of the outdoor British strawberry season is a huge feelgood moment in the year, as it means summer is just around the corner with many months ahead of outdoor living,” said Tesco strawberry buyer Callum Baker, referring to the seasonal transition as “a significant step forward”.
He added: “Based on the extra sunshine we’ve just had and good weather forecast over the next few days we predict our total UK strawberry volume to be around 40 per cent next week. If the weather stays relatively good from now then we’ll see UK-wide availability of British grown strawberries by mid-May.”
‘Perfect conditions’
One grower who has seen strawberry production soar in recent days is Hall Hunter, which operates farms near Wokingham and Wargrave in Berkshire and also near Goldaming in Surrey.
Cool nights and warm sunny days over the weekend were expected to create the perfect conditions for growing sweet, full‑flavoured strawberries.
“Thanks to these ideal conditions, we’re expecting a 30 per cent increase in strawberries coming off our farms,” said Hall Hunter’s commercial director, Neil Donaldson. “It’s a fantastic start to the UK strawberry season, and we’re hopeful these great conditions will continue.”
The strawberry variety going into Tesco stores is called Lady Emma, which is known for its large size, glossy deep red colour, and sweet flavour.
Each 400g punnet of UK-grown strawberries will be sold to shoppers for £2.50 each.
