Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Despite the recent cold snap, the first English strawberries of the year went on sale yesterday at Tesco (Wednesday March 2).
The grocery chain said the coup was possible because of the combination of the mild winter, new state of the art production techniques, and an early flowering variety called Fleurette.
Tesco strawberry buyer Henry Maulik said: “There’s nothing quite so quintessentially English as the taste of sweet, soft and juicy home-grown strawberries to help banish the winter blues.
“We have worked with one of our long-standing growers to replicate the perfect growing conditions of strawberries at the height of the UK season, to help customers enjoy Britain’s favourite fruit as early as possible.”
The strawberries were grown near Faversham in Kent by one of the UK’s biggest glasshouse grower of strawberries.
The traditional British five-month strawberry season ran from May to September but in the last 15 years it has lasted for up to nine months.
Henry Maulik added: “The arrival of the first English strawberries is great news for those yearning for longer, brighter days, because it not only signifies the start of the British growing season but also heralds the start of springtime.”
Kent wins the race to produce first English strawberries
