Strawberry yields forever
Fruit to be grown in UK year-round
EXCLUSIVE BY STEPHEN HAYWARD EVERYONE knows that British strawberries are the sweetest – and they could soon be grown all year round.
Producers are trialling a new “vertical” growing technique that will see the fruit on supermarket shelves 365 days a year.
British berries are normally only available from March to November, with the season limited by a lack of natural daylight. But the ecofriendly system will see strawberries grown in water without soil in stacked beds indoors.
Lincolnshire-based Jones Food Company is set to open the world’s biggest indoor vertical growing farm near Lydney, Glos, this year.
It will produce the strawberries with fruit grower Berry Gardens, with the first crop likely to be in the shops by late 2023.
James Lloyd-Jones, founder of Jones Food Company, said: “This collaboration looks to get us to a point where UK consumers can buy fresh, home-grown strawberries year round.
“Vertical farming is undoubtedly a part of the UK’s farming future.”
Last year, we spent more than £770million on fresh strawberries – up 10% on 2020.