Award-winning strawberry AVA has hit Tesco stores this week -some six weeks earlier than in previous seasons - thanks to an exclusive arrangement between the variety’s owner, Angus Soft Fruits, and Dutch marketer The Greenery.
“The Greenery growers have risen to the challenge of producing our delicious, premium strawberry variety considerably earlier than would normally be the case, as they grow it under glass,” said Angus Soft Fruit commercial manager John Gray. “The UK’s largest retailer has jumped at the chance of introducing a Tesco Finest strawberry variety so early in the season, in response to consumer demand.”
The Scottish soft-fruit producer joined forces with the Dutch company last autumn, initially in a bid to extend the availability of the AVA brand into the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium. This season’s AVA berries are the first premium strawberries to be grown and sold in the Netherlands. The variety’s season now stretches from March to December.
“Last season, volume sales of AVA were up 40 per cent, in spite of a really slow start to a mixed growing period of volatile weather,” added Gray. “This year is off to a better start and we will be in a stronger position to deal with the fact that demand for AVA outstrips supply, thanks to this new arrangement. Our association with The Greenery allows us to increase volumes of AVA demanded by European retailers.”
