Soft fruit set for flush

UK strawberry production has seen a slight increase in the south of England, producers claim.

While at the moment, volumes remain limited, the quality of both Elsanta and Everest is described as excellent.

However, the everbearer crop is starting to build, said Ian Waller, sales director at the Summerfruit Company, and the industry is now expecting a flush in the second week of September.

The increased volumes may cause a headache on the sales front, he said, with September historically not being a period of strong demand.

“We would expect to see a drop off in demand so we’ll be looking at our promotional mechanics for that period.”

On the raspberry front, autumn varieties are now on-stream and Scotland is reporting a flush of fruit coming into production.