Sales of many British summer lines have soared to unprecedented levels on the back of prolonged warm weather.
Strawberry sales were this week expected to reach 1,600-1,800 tonnes at UK supermarkets - the largest amount ever for this time of year - compared to just 400t in the same week last year.
“We are in uncharted waters, but they are quite nice waters to be in,” said Laurence Olins, chairman of promotional body British Summer Fruits. He calculates that this week, some 50-60 per cent of strawberries in the multiples are UK-grown and that this should rise to 100 per cent within two weeks.
Supermarkets are already promoting on English strawberries, having brought forward their plans by two weeks in line with increased volumes reaching the market.
An Asda spokesman said: “Thanks to the warm weather across the UK recently we’ve seen strong early crops and sales in sweetcorn, salads and asparagus.” Sainsbury’s also said it had earlier lettuce and strawberries.
Tomatoes are slated for promotion to coincide with British Tomato Week. “The timing could not be better,” said spokesman Gerry Hayman. Growers had a slow start because of low light levels in January and February, he said, but have now caught up as the last six weeks have been so good. “Quality is fantastic and over the next three to four weeks there will be some really big picks. Growers should get ahead on last year’s levels.”
John Allan, chair of the British Leafy Salads Association, also reported crop development ahead of 2010. “Growers are finding they have good leaf quality because of the warm daytime weather and cooler nights,” he said. “We are running about a week earlier than usual.”
And on cucumbers, Pas Milazzo of UK Salads reported a boost to crop growth in the past six weeks thanks to high light levels, but he said an early glut was evening out as growers prepared to plant a second crop.
