This summer's British strawberry crop has been safeguarded from the recent weather problems, growers have announced at the beginning of the British strawberry season.
UK-grown strawberries are starting to appear on supermarket shelves this week and should be out in full force by the bank holiday weekend, with the season likely to peak in late June and last until October.
'20 years ago the summer strawberry crop would have been decimated by the recent inclement weather, but thanks to two decades of investment in protection from the elements, the entire crop is safe,' said Laurence Olins, chairman of British Summer Fruits.
'We are expecting the effect of the warmth of March and cool April to combine to deliver sweet and flavourful berries; the crop is likely to be up 10 per cent from last year, the result of increased plantings in response to consumer demand,' he added.
Berries topped UK fruit sales fro the first time in August 2011, beating apples and bananas, with the category now accounting for 18.4 per cent of all fruit sales in British supermarkets. Year-on-year sales climbed 13.3 per cent with the UK berry market now worth £783m (€591m).
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