Britain may be in the grip of a cold snap but consumers can get a taste of the first UK strawberries of 2018, which went on sale on Thursday.

A Welsh fruit grower has broken the record for picking the earliest ever British strawberries – grown in glasshouses – and getting them on to supermarket shelves.

The berries, grown by Springfield Nursery near Cowbridge in south Wales, went on on sale in Tesco’s Bridgend Extra store. The discount supermarket Aldi was also selling strawberries at its store in Bridgend.

They are the earliest British strawberries on supermarket shelves since 2007, when strawberries grown in Kent went on sale on 26 February.

“Hats off to Springfield who have achieved this fantastic coup with their expertise and innovation,” said Jordan Blandford, a strawberry buyer at Tesco. “There is always a lot of excitement about the first British strawberries being picked because their arrival means the start of spring is not too far away.”



What was once a fleeting treat, to be enjoyed for the few weeks around Wimbledon, has almost become a staple supermarket item thanks to a longer British growing season and a supply of imported produce. Historically, in England, strawberries started appearing on 1 May and were available until the end of September.

Aldi said the extended British season had been made possible with milder weather, brighter and longer days and advanced growing techniques from suppliers.



Julie Ashfield, Aldi’s joint managing director for corporate buying, said: “Aldi is committed to supporting British suppliers, so it’s always a celebrated milestone when we can offer customers exceptional quality, British-grown strawberries.”



Tesco said this year’s production at Springfield would result in about 500 tonnes of strawberries – the equivalent of about 1 million punnets – with the supply lasting until late autumn. The UK’s largest supermarket chain will roll out strawberries grown in Essex from this weekend. Other traditional UK early season growers are based in Kent, Sussex and Lancashire.



The strawberry variety now on sale is favori , which has a distinctive vivid colour and produces large berries that are not too crunchy.

But consumers scrambling for the early fruit may have to compromise on taste. Peter Melchett, the policy director at the organic farming body the Soil Association, said: “Michael Gove told the National Farmers’ Union conference earlier this week that he wanted to see more fresh British produce grown. It’s important that people understand the importance of seasonality – eating fruit and vegetables when they are in season means they taste better and cost less.”



