Nairn signed up to support AVA

Ava strawberries has enlisted the help of Scottish celebrity chef Nick Nairn to help promote its berries this summer.

A recent finalist in the BBC show Great British Menu, Nairn will give a cookery demonstration at Angus School on June 26, where children will be shown how to prepare healthy dishes using strawberries.

Building on this, AVA will also launch a Scotland-wide competition for the best poster, encouraging children to eat fresh Scottish produce. Selected by Nairn, the winner and their classmates will be invited on a trip to a strawberry farm in August to see how the berries are grown.

John Gray, commercial manager for Angus Soft Fruits Ltd, the strawberry’s exclusive producer, said: “Anyone who has met Nick Nairn will see that as well as being a top chef, he truly believes in the importance of encouraging children to eat healthily and to eat British. As an advocate for healthy eating, his credentials are second to none.”

Nairn said: “AVA strawberries are just superb. They look great, taste fantastic, and grow right here in Scotland. They knock the spots off most berries in the supermarket, many of which have been flown in from Spain and just don’t have the same freshness and flavour. But I always find that the ultimate taste testers are my children, and they love AVA.”

Meanwhile, far south of the border, the AVA promotion team (pictured) was on hand to give spectators at Queen’s Club, in London, a taster of the season to come, attending the first high-profile grass-court tournament of the English tennis summer.