Consumers set to eat fresh British-grown strawberries at Christmas

Consumers are set to see fresh British-grown strawberries widely available this Christmas after a firm extended the season to 12 months with new technology.

The Summer Berry Company, one of the UK’s leading fruit producers based near Chichester, is now growing British strawberries at a commercial scale all year round with the help of LED technology through the colder months.

The investment reduces the site’s reliance on fossil fuels, with the system using a mix of renewable heat and power, LED lighting and energy storage to recreate spring conditions indoors.

The firm installed a combined heat and power (CHP) plant on the farm which burns gas to generate electricity, which in turn powers 2,600 LED units which create artificial sunlight, giving plants the impression that it is April, rather than December.

In the greenhouse, the LEDs hang above the rows of plants to aid photosynthesis during the darkest months, and fans in the LED units then blow heat produced by the lights down towards the crop, further reducing its energy use.

The greenhouses are heated to between 18C and 22C throughout the winter.

The development marks a major shift for the industry, which has traditionally relied on imports between November and March.

The new technology means the company can now supply fresh British strawberries to retailers 365 days a year while cutting food miles from Middle East imports, which have historically fulfilled consumer demand during the winter.

As a result, the industry is expecting to produce fruit over winter of higher quality than typical Egyptian or Spanish imports while potentially cutting around 400 tonnes brought in from overseas.

The Summer Berry Company said it was on track to double volumes previously grown in winter to just over 400 tonnes in the current 2025 to 2026 season.

The growing area has also doubled, expanding from 1.8 hectares to 3.6 hectares.

The year-round operation is also supporting stable, local employment as the Chichester glasshouse has provided continuous work as opposed to purely seasonal for around 20 harvest workers, 15 husbandry workers, five workers in the packhouse and one student, and an agronomy and management team of about 10 people.

Among the strawberry varieties grown at The Summer Berry Company are Malling Ace, Karima, Favori, Florice, Limore One and Fandango – the last of which was recently recognised as one of the tastiest strawberries in the world after receiving the 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 at The Summer Berry Company, said: “We’re all familiar with British strawberries at Wimbledon and Royal Ascot but not so used to them being served on Christmas Day after the turkey.

“Typically, the demand for winter strawberries has been fulfilled by flying them in from countries like Egypt and Jordan but we believe our new technology provides a far superior-tasting fruit which is less energy intensive to grow at our farm in West Sussex.”