British strawberry growers are reporting an extraordinary harvest this spring, with berries growing 10 to 20 per cent larger than usual due to optimal weather.
The UK’s sunny spring weather has provided “perfect” conditions to produce strawberries so big you “cannot fit them in your mouth”, UK growers have said.
According to the operations director at the Summer Berry Company, Bartosz Pinkosz, a "perfect" climate this year has resulted in a crop of uncharacteristically large strawberries.
In his nearly 20 years of experience, Pinkosz revealed that he had "never seen anything like it", adding that some are so big you "cannot fit them in your mouth".
The company's farm in Colworth, West Sussex, is producing "giant" 50g strawberries, though the average size is a more modest 30g.
Among the biggest of the bunch, select fruits are growing "to the size of plums or even kiwis".
“We had the darkest January and February since the 70s but then the brightest March and April since 1910,” The Guardian quoted Pinkosz as saying. “From March onwards it was really kind of perfect for tunnel strawberries. The berries are between 10 per cent and 20 per cent larger.”
Nick Marston, chair of British Berry Growers, confirmed that the "very nice sunshine" and "cool overnight temperatures" are "ideal" for fruit development.
He noted that "we're seeing very good size, shape, appearance, and most of all, really great flavour and sugar content", adding that "this is what consumers want when they buy British strawberries".
British strawberry growers are celebrating an extraordinary harvest this spring, with berries growing 10 to 20 per cent larger than unusual due to optimal weather.
The combination of abundant sunshine and cool nights has created ideal growing conditions for these supersized fruits.
The sunny, very dry spring, with the warmest start to May on record, delivered not only a glut of early strawberries but also aubergines and tomatoes at the start of May. Although as the dry conditions persist, so does fear of drought in the country this summer.
