The great weather in the UK so far this year has meant that the strawberry season in the UK has come forward by roughly two weeks. Retailers are already running promotions and selling larger packs.
"We always get peaks and troughs in the strawberry production," said Ben Goodchild from Nationwide Produce. "It's encouraging to see retailers responding quickly and bringing promotions forward to align with how the crop has progressed. It shows there's a stronger level of communication between retailers and growers this season."
Nationwide Produce do not primarily supply retailers, instead they work focusing with growers to establish and build brands and sell to primary, secondary wholesalers, catering and the food service sector "We work with established growers and have product all year round, the fruit is always top quality and tends to hold its price even if there is surplus on the retail shelves or wholesale markets. Our direct and end customers rely on consistent volumes from trusted suppliers, strong brands, and assured quality."
Referring to the EU–UK trade deal, Ben said nothing much would change in the short term, but in line with others in the industry, he said that clarity on what is going to happen on 1st July when the import regulations are supposed to come into force would be welcome. "It would make sense to just scrap these new regulations if we are to going back to pre-Brexit regulations, but many companies have invested millions in infrastructure to support the new regulations, DEFRA have had a big recruitment drive to get the people in and trained up to carry out the new procedures on both import and export. So, maybe the government will want to make use of this until the trade deal comes into place?"
For more information:
Ben Goodchild
Nationwide Produce
Tel: +44 (0)1386 424800
Email: [email protected]
www.nationwideproduce.com