Tesco had its first English strawberries on the shelves this year on Wednesday (2 March).
Despite the recent coldsnap, this listing comes four days earlier than last year, and two days ahead of Waitrose getting English strawberries on its shelves.
Tesco said the coup had been made possible because of the three factors:
- The mild winter
- New state of the art production techniques
- An early flowering variety called Fleurette
Tesco strawberry buyer Henry Maulik added: “There’s nothing quite so quintessentially English as the taste of sweet, soft and juicy home-grown strawberries to help banish the winter blues.
“We have worked with one of our long-standing growers to replicate the perfect growing conditions of strawberries at the height of the UK season to help customers enjoy Britain’s favourite fruit as early as possible.”
The strawberries were grown under glass near Faversham in Kent.
The traditional British strawberry season ran from May to September, but in the last 15 years, has been lasting for up to nine months.
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