The Seasonal Berries campaign backed Spanish strawberries at a press event in London last week, where TV presenter Dr Christian Jessen told consumer journalists about the health benefits of eating berries before the group sampled berry recipes at tapas restaurant Iberica.
The initiative followed a YouGov poll of 2,044 UK adults suggesting that consumers are unaware of the comparative nutritional value of berries and assume that citrus is more nutritionally beneficial.
Almost half (47 per cent) of adults think that from a list of popular fruit, oranges have the most vitamin C per 100g, whereas just three per cent correctly identified the real winner, strawberries.
Jessen said: “I decided to do this because I spend most of my time trying to eat more fruit and vegetables and to lead healthy lifestyles. The reason we are talking about Spanish berries at the moment is because we cannot grow UK fruit all year round.
“Berries are an extremely good source of phytonutrients and they contain flavanoids, which have been found to be very good at repairing or mopping up the damage caused by free radicals or oxidant damage.
“Seven strawberries give you your daily allowance of vitamin C, which is the equivalent of five and a half bananas - I know which one I would rather eat. And blueberries come at the top of the list for antioxidants.”
Ian Waller, sales director of Total Berry UK, told freshinfo: “There have been millions of pounds worth of investment into getting good-tasting winter berries on the table. This is the Spanish season and that is the message.
“Sales are now driven by repeat purchases and it’s a very aggressive market out there, so prices should not put off consumers. It has been a difficult winter on weather and prices; it has made life very difficult.”
