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British consumers can look forward to enjoying fresh, home-grown strawberries this Christmas after a major UK grower successfully extended the fruit’s growing season to a full 12 months.
The Summer Berry Company, a major fruit grower based near Chichester, is now cultivating British strawberries on a commercial scale all year round. This achievement is thanks to innovative LED technology, which allows them to recreate optimal spring conditions indoors during the colder months.
The advanced system integrates renewable heat and power sources, sophisticated LED lighting and energy storage solutions. This not only ensures a continuous supply of fresh berries but also significantly reduces the site’s dependence on fossil fuels.
The firm set up a combined heat and power (CHP) plant Farm which burns gas to generate electricity, which in turn powers 2,600 LED units that produce artificial sunlight plants It feels like it’s April instead of December.
In greenhouses, LEDs hang above rows of plants to aid photosynthesis during the dark months, and fans in LED units blow the heat generated from the lights toward the crop, reducing its energy use.
The greenhouse is heated between 18C and 22C throughout the winter.
The development marks a major change for the industry, which has traditionally been dependent on imports between November and March.
The new technology means the company can now supply fresh British strawberries to retailers 365 days a year, cutting food miles from imports from the Middle East, which have historically met consumer demand during winter.
As a result, the industry is expecting to produce higher quality fruit in the winter than typical Egyptian or Spanish imports, while potentially cutting down on the approximately 400 tonnes brought in from abroad.
The summer berry company said it is on track to double the amount grown earlier in the winter to more than 400 tonnes in the current 2025 to 2026 season.
The production area has also doubled, from 1.8 hectares to 3.6 hectares.
The year-round operation is also supporting steady, local employment as the Chichester Glasshouse provides continuous as opposed to entirely seasonal work for approximately 20 crop workers, 15 husbandry workers, five workers in the packhouse and one student, and an agronomy and management team of approximately 10 people.
Strawberry varieties grown at Summer Berry Company include Malling Ace, Karima, Favori, Floris, Limor One and Fandango – the last of which was recently recognized as one of the tastiest strawberries in the world after receiving a top three-star Superior Taste Award from an international panel of chefs and sommeliers.
Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons will stock the berries.
Bartosz Pinkosz, UK operations director of The Summer Berry Company, said: “We are all familiar with the British strawberry at Wimbledon and Royal Ascot, but are not accustomed to it being served on Christmas Day after turkey.
“Normally, demand for winter strawberries is met by sourcing from countries such as Egypt and Jordan, but we believe our new technology delivers a better tasting fruit that requires less energy to grow on our farm in West Sussex.”