Tag Archives: strawberries

Berry sales rise as bumper harvest looms

Data from Kantar Worldpanel shows that berry sales in the UK now account for a fifth of total fruit consumption making them more popular than apples and bananas as the popularity of juices and smoothies shows no signs of slowing down.

Strawberries are the most popular soft fruit, with sales last year valued at £564,382 million. They were followed by blueberries (£282,962m) and raspberries (£220,336m). Laurence Olins, chairman of British Summer Fruits, said, “Berries used to be a luxury item, but now they are a delicious staple, consumed as part of a healthy diet for many people. The sales figures reveal a robust and expanding soft fruit category that is meeting growing consumer demand.”

The figures came as British Summer Fruits predicted a record breaking strawberry harvest this year thanks to ideal spring growing conditions. Up to 74,000 tonnes of the fruit is predicted to be produced over the coming summer. The top retail varieties are Malling Centenary; Elsanta; Sonata; Sweet Eve; Driscoll’s Jubilee; Ava Rosa; Red Glory; and Capri.

The post Berry sales rise as bumper harvest looms appeared first on Hort News.

Kent nursery produces first UK strawberries

The first English strawberries in 2016 went on sale in Tesco’s store in Faversham on 2 March after being harvested by S & A Produce at its Hernhill nursery nearby.

The sample of new early variety Fleurette helped S & A Produce, one of the biggest greenhouse producers of strawberries in the country, to win the annual race to produce the first strawberries this year.

Tesco strawberry buyer Henry Maulik said, “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 arrival of the first English strawberries is great news for those yearning for longer, brighter days because it not only signifies the start of the British growing season but also heralds the start of springtime.”

Photo Caption: The sample of Fleurette strawberries

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Kent nursery produces first UK strawberries appeared first on Hort News on 22 March 2016.

M&S plans Pick Your Own strawberries

According to newspaper reports, Marks and Spencer could be looking to offer customers the chance to ‘pick their own’ strawberries after unveiling a trial at its flagship Marble Arch store in London just in time for Wimbledon.

In fact the installation was created by Bompas and Parr who worked with British Summer Fruits on an installation entitled ‘Fruit Fantasia’, which was in place for just a few days.

The proposed multi-sensory environment takes the principals of fashion retailing and brings it to the food environment, which is typically a purely functional space that has not undergone as much innovation as other retail streams. The concept is to bring the scents, tastes and sounds of a strawberry field to the shopping aisle.

Andy Mitchell, M&S Strawberry Expert said, “The start of the British strawberry season is one of the highlights of the summer calendar and it’s great to see that this very clever installation will really bring to life the many delicious qualities of our strawberries. We hope our customers enjoy it and are looking forward to seeing their reaction.”

Research conducted by The University of London revealed that the scent of strawberries can evoke feelings of summer and nostalgia and shoppers, will be able to taste and smell the strawberries as soon as they enter, through a berry mist that will emerge around the store.

Laurence Olins, Chairman of British Summer Fruits, added, “The soft fruit industry is at the forefront of innovation–plant breeders raise tens of thousands of seedlings each year and only about one per cent go forward for further trialling.”

The post M&S plans Pick Your Own strawberries appeared first on Hort News.

Syngenta Bioline targets thrips at Fruit Focus

Essex-based Syngenta Bioline is using Fruit Focus to highlight the threat that Western Flower Thrips (WFT) pose to strawberry production.

“Western Flower Thrips remain a major problem in strawberry production, and growing resistance to conventional crop protection products continues to exacerbate this problem,” comments the firm’s Richard GreatRex.

To help growers manage the pest Syngenta Bioline offers both ThripLine sticky roller traps and the predatory mite Amblyseius cucumeris in its AmblyLine cu product. The company says that recent trials have demonstrated that TrapLine roller traps, which are available in lengths of 100 metres, and widths of 15 and 30 cms, can give significant reductions in the numbers of adult thrips in flowers, as well as improved fruit quality.

AmblyLine cu sachets can be used in tunnels and open field crops, as well as in glasshouses. Richard adds that they “Provide a tried and tested solution, producing high numbers of Amblyseius cucumeris continuously over several weeks, thus providing prolonged protection for the crop.”

Syngenta Bioline can be found on Stand 228 at Fruit Focus, which is held at East Malling in Kent on 22 July.

The post Syngenta Bioline targets thrips at Fruit Focus appeared first on Hort News.

CPM trials East Malling’s strawberries

Soft fruit supplier CPM, which is part of the AG Thames Group, has trialled two new strawberry varieties which came from an exclusive breeding programme at East Malling Research in Kent.

“Although still being trialled, results so far have been extremely positive and we expect commercial volumes to be widely available in 2017,” said Tom Rogers from CPM “Both selections have continued to perform well and be more productive than the standard varieties. As we continue the process it will be possible to continue to improve on this with better understanding of the new varieties through time.

“The breeding programme is unique in its focus to look for varieties that perform well in substrate,” Rogers continued. “It is a system that is becoming most widely used by growers due to its unrivalled benefits. We are therefore well placed to provide our dedicated growers and our customers with material that can help their businesses grow and outperform the competition.”

The names of the new varieties have not yet been released, but according to reports one has large, sweet fruit while the other is smaller with a balance of sugar and acid.

Abi Johnson, from East Malling Research, added, “These selections looked extremely promising at East Malling Research, and I’m delighted to see an equally good performance in grower trials.”

The post CPM trials East Malling’s strawberries appeared first on Hort News.