British supermarkets cut back on foreign fruit imports after home-grown strawberry boom

The retailer anticipates taking delivery of approximately 300 tonnes of domestically produced strawberries next week - equivalent to roughly one million punnets.

This represents a doubling of volumes compared with just three weeks earlier, reducing dependence on imports from Spain and Morocco.

Callum Baker, Tesco's strawberry buyer, described the arrival of outdoor British strawberries as "a huge feel-good moment in the year as it means summer is just around the corner with many months ahead of outdoor living."

He said: "Next week marks a significant step forward in the transition to British supply, with volumes of UK strawberries into Tesco set to increase by more than double since the beginning of April."

Mr Baker predicted domestically sourced fruit would account for around 40 per cent of the supermarket's total strawberry stock by next week.

Should favourable weather conditions persist, nationwide availability of British strawberries is anticipated by mid-May.

It comes as growers are reporting ideal conditions for this year's harvest.

Neil Donaldson, commercial director at Hall Hunter, which operates farms near Wokingham, Wargrave and Godalming, said: "Cool nights and warm sunny days create the perfect conditions for growing sweet, full-flavoured strawberries, and that's exactly what this weekend's forecast is bringing."

He noted the company expects output from its farms to rise by 30 per cent.

The variety reaching Tesco stores is Lady Emma, prized for its generous size and sweetness.

Shoppers can purchase 400g punnets for £2.50.

Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director at The Summer Berry Company, offered an explanation for why this season's crop promises exceptional sweetness.

He said: "The weather was poor throughout March, which means we're not expecting a glut of strawberries like we had last year.

"But that's actually good news for us all, as it means there won't be too much fruit all coming at once."

"And the brilliant news is we expect the strawberries this year to be particularly sweet. With the unsettled weather in March, the fruit has spent more time on the plant, and the longer the berry is on the plant, the sweeter it gets."

A reduced dependence on foreign imports is a huge win for British farmers, who are facing one of their toughest financial squeezes in years as the Iran conflict drives agricultural costs sharply higher.

Fertiliser prices have jumped 30 per cent and fuel costs have doubled, pushing “agflation” to 7.6 per cent in March - more than double the wider economy’s three per cent rate.

It is the fastest rise in farming input costs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Unlike that period, when higher commodity prices offered some protection, farmers are now grappling with rising costs and falling incomes.