Despite the recent coldsnap the first English strawberries of the year went on sale at Tesco on Wednesday March 2, four days earlier than last year.
The coup has been made possible because of the three factors:
The mild winter
New state of the art production techniques
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.
Thanks to the innovation of growers and the recent milder winters Britain has been enjoying longer fruit growing seasons.
The traditional British strawberry season ran from May to September but in the last 15 years but now it can last for up to 9 months.
Tesco’s Henry Maulik said: “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.”
