Heatwave brings on bumper crops of classic British strawberries and cherries
23 July 2022
Britain’s current heatwave has helped bring on a sudden bumper crop flush of strawberries and cherries and they’ll be going on sale for cheaper than normal!
The unexpected surge in production has meant that many growers across the UK have been left with more of Britain’s favourite home-grown fruit than they anticipated.
But now Tesco has stepped in to help out growers and to make sure that none of the strawberries and cherries would go to waste they will be selling kilo boxes of each at a discounted price.
Tesco Berries Buying Manager Laura Mitchell said:
“British shoppers are going through a tough time at the moment and if there’s something that can put a big smile on faces right now, it’s being able to buy sweet, lush, British strawberries for less than normal.
“The heatwave has brought on the strawberries faster than expected with many growers seeing production about 10-15 per cent higher than normal for this time of year. We’re very happy to help out our British growers.”
As soon as Tesco heard about the glut it moved to help British growers and prevent any strawberries from going to waste on farms.
One strawberry grower being supported by Tesco is Langdon Manor Farm, based near Faversham in Kent
Alastair Brooks, Managing Director of Langdon Manor Farm said:
“Following a mild, settled spring, we have experienced prolonged sunshine, extra daylight, and very little rain in the last few weeks.
“This has resulted in an abundance of healthy, perfectly ripe, extra sweet strawberries. After a wet Jubilee weekend, we are excited to be able to finally celebrate the British strawberry season.
“With a few extra tonnes of strawberries being available we are thankful for Tesco’s support at this time.
“It allows us to minimise wastage and get more of the very best, high quality and nutritious Driscoll’s Zara Strawberries packed, picked and distributed to stores ready for consumers to enjoy.”
The extra sunshine contributed to bumper strawberries and cherries right across Britain including Kent, Norfolk, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Scotland and Herefordshire.
The kilo boxes of strawberries will go on sale at more than 750 Tesco stores across the UK priced at £4. The kilo boxes of cherries will be sold for £5 each.
Regular 400g punnets of cherries cost £3 so to buy a kilo would normally cost £7.50.
The kilo boxes of cherries will go on sale at nearly 850 Tesco stores across the UK.
Last year, shoppers bought more than 87,000 tonnes of British strawberries. The strawberry industry is now worth more than £769 million to the British economy, according to Kantar figures.
ENDS
Note to editors:
Tesco has reduced overall food waste in its operations by 45 per cent since 2016/17 and is making good progress toward its ambition of halving food waste by 2025. Just 0.35 per cent of the food handled across the Group in 2021/22 ended up as waste.
It works with suppliers to make as much use of crops as possible. Farm Brands and Perfectly Imperfect ranges make good use of the part of the crop that previously fell outside of specifications. Special offers are utilised to help ensure bumper crop flushes result in food being eaten by customers.
Tesco’s food redistribution programmes in the UK and Ireland use apps to connect stores with local organisations that can make best use of unsold surplus food.
The supermarket chain provides two million meals a month on average to charities and community groups via Community Food Connection in the UK in conjunction with FareShare and FoodCloud. Since 2016, Tesco has provided over 140 million meals in the UK through its Community Food Connection initiative.