British Summer Fruits has hit back after reports in the media this week that strawberries are having their worst season in 20 years.
Hampshire grower Sandy Booth has been quoted widely as saying: "I think it's one of the most difficult seasons I have ever had in 20 years of doing this.” And changeable weather over the growing season has been blamed.
But Laurence Olins, chairman of industry body British Summer Fruits, told FPJ it is “obviously a challenging year” but rebutted the negative view portrayed in the media this week. “The industry is sitting on a day’s stock of fruit as a minimum. There is ample fruit to go all the way through the season. In fact, one of the benefits of the weather so far is the crop has been well spread without the peaks and troughs in availability, which has been much easier to manage.”
Reports in the BBC and The Express had questioned whether there would be enough UK-grown fruit for Wimbledon fortnight, but Marion Regan of Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent, which supplies caterer FMC with fruit for the tennis championships, said it was “absolute nonsense” to suggest there would be a shortfall. “We had great sales over the Jubilee weekend and since then demand has been strong and steady and we haven’t had any problems with availability.”
Olins added that the everbearer crop is “enjoying the cool weather” and that growers will begin to pick these varieties over the next week.
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