Soft fruit producer-marketer Driscoll's says it is looking forward to a positive campaign for strawberries grown in northern Europe, especially for its trademarked strawberry variety Lusa.
With less than two weeks to go before the group's first strawberries arrive from Benelux growers, the company said the quality of Lusa production made it confident about its prospects for the season.
'The unique variety Driscoll's Lusa has proven to be both delightful as well as productive for glasshouse production,' said a spokesperson.
Lusa is described as a 'rather large' strawberry with a fresh sweet flavour and a light red colour.
Its fresh appearance and high quality is said to be particularly appealing to consumers and, as a result, it tends to perform well commercially.
'Also for the growers there are considerable advantages,' the spokesperson added. 'Lusa has a very interesting production flow and is high yielding.'
Production of Lusa usually begins relatively early, in mid-March, and is expected to last until the beginning of July, without any notably steep production peaks.
'The big advantage for the grower is that he reduces risks by being less dependent on one production period,' said Driscoll's.
'This structural production is also beneficial for the picking crew as the capacity is rather equally spread throughout the season.'
As the variety does not require extra lightning, Driscoll's has made it a central part of its plans to reduce the environmental footprint of strawberry production in northern Europe.
