Herefordshire producer says bigger strawberries here to stay

Peter Judge said what S&A Fresh Produce started "breeding today, you won't see in the market for 10 more years"

One of the UK's largest strawberry producers says its fruit has increased by about a third in size over a decade, due to changes in consumer tastes.

S&A Fresh Produce has spent 10 years developing the Lady Emma variety - larger than most strawberries grown when production started on Brierley farm in Herefordshire 20 years ago.

The company said it also had to deliver "good flavour".

But it said bigger strawberries were "here to stay".

A decade ago, the average strawberry sold would be the size of a pound coin - now it is the size of a golf ball.

Smaller strawberries do not fetch as high a price, but nothing is wasted - smaller fruit can be used in jam or juices and is still sold alongside larger strawberries.

Asked why he believed people wanted bigger ones, S&A Produce group managing director Peter Judge said he thought it was "a trend".

He added: "It originally started genetically probably 10 or 15, 20 years ago, when Californian genetics came into Europe.

"Now what's happening is the European breeding programmes have taken those genetics and are moving them forward by crossing them with other varieties to create new strawberries."

Speaking at the company's farm near Leominster, Mr Judge said there had been a "massive step forward over the last 10 years of both British growers taking on board new growing technology... but also genetic development".

S&A said it was an independently-owned British family business

He added: "Lady Emma, which is our very first variety... has taken us nearly 10 years... to breed and then [bring] it to the market, as we have done in the last couple of years."

The group managing director also said: "We're already working on the new variety selections, recognising that consumers do want bigger fruit, but they also want good flavour as well.

"So we have to deliver the two things together."

Mr Judge reflected that the spring was "terrible", June was "fantastic" and since then "the weather's been terrible".

He said: "You remember last year we had four or five events where we actually had heatwaves at different points and every time you have that, that puts the crop under pressure.

"It's been quite gentle for the crop in terms of trying to develop the crop over the year... and that's why this year we are seeing much bigger strawberries."