Sweeter strawberries after 'perfect' spring

One farm near Chichester has seen strawberries that are "bigger, tastier, and with better shelf life" in 2025

Record-breaking spring sunshine and "perfect" conditions are producing larger and sweeter strawberries, says one West Sussex grower.

Provisional Met Office figures show the UK experienced its warmest spring on record and its driest in over half a century in 2025.

Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director at The Summer Berry Company, said daytime sunshine and cooler nights in March, April and May "positively influenced our growing conditions".

The company, based at Groves Farm near Chichester, uses reservoirs to help protect against droughts.

Bartosz Pinkosz is responsible for 300 acres of polytunnels at Groves Farm

Mr Pinkosz said: "What we have observed this year is the perfect conditions to develop ideal berries, which are bigger, tastier, and with better shelf life."

The Summer Berry Company has 300 acres of polytunnels, according to Mr Pinkosz.

The company also has 62 acres of glasshouses for producing a winter crop of the fruit, and says it supplies most major UK retailers.

Despite the bumper 2025 crop, Mr Pinkosz warned that climate change "potentially has a negative impact on growing fruit".

"No fruit, in my experience, likes too hot conditions or too wet conditions," he said.

The company has, however, designed new varieties of strawberry, which it hopes will allow it to keep producing berries in harsher conditions.