UK growers hope to make strawberries part of the Christmas tradition
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Strawberry producers are celebrating an increase of 40% on last year. They may not be part of the Christmas tradition but households in the UK can expect to see strawberries on supermarket shelves during the festive period. That’s because strawberry-growers have developed new techniques to allow Britons to enjoy home-grown fruit for Christmas Day.
![[Two producers in West Sussex have produced 38 tonnes of strawberries for the Christmas period (Tesco/Ben Stevenson’s Media/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/19/02/aa72f046ec2de32e7678390bf7001827Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0NjEwNzE1-2.60737324.jpg)
The two producers in West Sussex have produced 38 tonnes of strawberries for the period – an increase of 40% on last year. The new system, supported by Tesco, requires 50% less water and yields 3.5 times more fruit per square metre to enable a constant supply of strawberries all year round.
![[The strawberries are being grown with hydroponics – using a water-based nutrient solution instead of soil (Tesco/Ben Stevenson’s Media/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/19/02/ec4676f9212b1d2adf279bc46abbe2cfY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0NjExMTMy-2.60737351.jpg)
The two growers are Wicks Farm, based in Ford, near Arundel and The Summer Berry Company (TSBC) based in Colworth, near Chichester. Explaining the vertical growing technique used, David Moore, managing director of Wicks Farm, said: “This is grown hydroponically, with a water feed instead of in soil, in multiple stacked layers in an indoor environment.
“This guarantees yields while improving the supply of healthy, nutritious food and minimising the miles involved in its distribution.”. TSBC, the UK’s largest grower of greenhouse strawberries, will grow its first winter strawberries after a £6 million installation of the new technology.
It aims to produce 600,000 punnets of strawberries during the winter from 175,000 plants. David Sanclement, TSBC’s chief executive, explained the investment would reduce the use of a combined heat and power system along with a water or air source heat pump, site-wide heat network and LED lighting would reduce the site’s reliance on fossil fuels.
