British supermarkets have been urged to promote a wider range of fruit than just strawberries during Wimbledon fortnight.
Food campaigner Ian Woodhurst of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) claimed that by only pushing strawberries, retailers are creating a situation where other soft fruit is getting ignored by consumers.
He explained: “Home-grown strawberries are a great national success story but the UK still only produces just 12 per cent of the fruit we eat. Our local fruit producers could benefit from more support: we need to be buying not just strawberries but blackberries, blueberries, currants, gooseberries and raspberries too.”
British supermarkets will be hoping Andy Murray can go all the way at this year’s Wimbledon, with several retailers thanking the Scot for boosting their sales of strawberries.
Marks & Spencer said it sold over 20 million individual strawberries during the first week of the tennis tournament, making the soft fruit the week’s biggest-selling food item.
The retailer’s strawberry buyer, Bill Davies, explained: “Wimbledon has become synonymous with strawberries and cream, and we are expecting record sales as customers show their support for Murray.”
It was also a good week for Waitrose, with sales up 47 per cent on the same period last year, and Sainsbury’s, with sales up 10 per cent since the start of this year’s tournament.
It is estimated that some 15 per cent of the entire British season’s strawberry crop is purchased every year during the famous two-week British Grand Slam, which concludes this Sunday.
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