Sweet success! Why this summer’s strawberries will be cream of crop

IT is the essential taste of summer – a juicy dish of strawberries smothered in cream.

And this year home-grown strawberries are going to be bigger, sweeter and more plentiful than ever, farmers are predicting.

The sunniest winter in 86 years, followed by warm spring days and cool nights, mean sales are likely to rise by £50million to a record £325million.

Industry body British Summer Fruits forecasts that 76,000 tons of strawberries will be picked this year. That is a 19 per cent increase on last year’s record 64,000 tons. New varieties, innovative growing methods and an increase in the number of acres planted have also driven up yields.

British strawberry production has increased by 36 per cent in the past five years. They are now available from March to December, a far cry from the six-week season of 25 years ago.

It is one reason why Wimbledon’s famous serving of ten strawberries in a bowl with cream has remained at £2.50 for the last four years.

The grade one fruits are sourced from Kent and each year about 112,000 punnets are sold at the All England Championships.

British Summer Fruits chairman Laurence Olins said: ‘The berry industry as a whole continues to expand.

‘Consumers can look forward to ample quantities of strawberries on the supermarket shelves this summer.’

This year’s growing season got off to a good start with tomatoes, asparagus and raspberries all appearing on our shelves earlier than usual.

Farmers hope it will put a dent in the sales of imported food which makes up about 24 per cent of what we eat.