Grower's Xmas sprouts as heavy as 1,000 cars

Produce World has estimated over the Christmas period it will pack enough sprouts for eleven million Christmas dinners, weighing as much as 1,000 Ford Focus cars.

The news will reassure growers after a Morrisons poll that found almost a third of Brits are planning to spend less this Christmas and, for 23 per cent of them, Brussels would be first to go.

Produce World grows and supplies many of the vegetables that will make up the family feast on Christmas Day including potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions and sprouts. So, while many workers in the UK are winding down for the Christmas break, it is responsible for delivering potatoes for some 15 million people on Christmas Day.

At Produce World’s roots specialist Produce World IFP, the focus will be on delivering delicious carrots and parsnips. Procurement director George Rivers said around 104 lorry loads of parsnips and 107 loads of carrots will be delivered to leading retailers.

“I have calculated that all the carrots we supply for Christmas would stretch from London to Istanbul if laid end-to-end,” he said.

”That’s more than 17 million carrots. Also we produce enough parsnips for 1.2 million Christmas dinners.”