Why are strawberries grown in the UK so big this year?
The UK’s sunny weather could bring an exciting change to your supermarket shop: strawberries so big you may struggle to eat them.
An unusually bright start to 2025 means they’re naturally supersized this year, so you won’t even have to pay extra for these chunky strawbs.
Growers have said the fruits are 10 to 20% larger than average, with some as big as 50g, the weight of a large egg.
Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director at the Summer Berry Company, told Metro: ‘Last week marked my nineteenth year of working in the berry industry – and during this time I have genuinely never seen a harvest produce such large berries consistently. Some are supersized – up to 30% larger than previous years, growing to the size of plums or even kiwi fruits.’
He added: ‘Some of our strawberries have grown so large this year that they’re too big to fit in your mouth in one go – you’ll need two bites.’
The average is still 30g, he said, so not all the strawberries you see will be monsters – but it’s promising if you love a traditional bowl of strawberries and cream while watching Wimbledon.
Duncan Robertson, the founder of Dogtooth, a company making robot fruit pickers which are already in action on UK farms picking berries 24/7, told Metro they had also seen some very large berries ‘on occasion’ this year.
He said his robots are prepared for any size of strawberry, and could even work more efficiently if berries are bigger.
‘The robot has been optimised to work with berries of all sizes – and because the time taken to pick a berry is nearly independent of its size, larger berries mean that the robot can harvest more kilograms per hour,’ he said.
But he warned that the largest berries might mean the robot has to slow its arms down or risk ‘flinging fruit at passers by’.
Why are strawberries so big this year?
Weather forecasters said the sunny spring weather we’ve seen so far this year has helped the fruit to the thrive during growing season.
Most regions have seen far less rainfall than usual, with bright days and cool nights: April was the sunniest on record for the UK since records began in 1910.
Strawberries grow best in mild and sunny conditions, between 15 to 25°C, so the UK’s weather so far has fit the bill.
Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers which represents UK strawberry farmers, said: ‘This year’s early season strawberries are looking exceptional in both flavour and form. The warm weather, high light levels, and active pollination have come together beautifully. We’re expecting a strong yield and outstanding taste quality this season.’
Peter Judge, group managing director at S&A Produce, added: ‘The warmer, sunnier bursts interspersed with cooler snaps earlier in the year allowed the crop to develop slowly. This has supported the creation of strong root systems, which create a really strong engine for the plants to grow fantastic fruit with excellent levels of natural sugars.’
While big and sweet strawberries will probably be welcome, it also means that millions of households have already been put on notice for a potential drought, due to the sparse rainfall, however.
The dirty dozen
While strawberries are healthy and delicious, concerns have been raised about exposure to pesticides used to grow them.
Testing has found high levels of forever chemicals in strawberries, and they are considered one of the ‘dirty dozen’ of fruit and veg most contamined by growing agents.
If you can’t buy organic, you can reduce the risk by soaking the strawberries in a water and baking soda or water and vinegar solution before rinsing them and eating them.
Chris Weston, the leader of Thames Water, said the company is doing ‘all we need to’ to prepare for potential water shortages.
Three years ago the firm came ‘dangerously close’ to running out of water for its 16million customers during record summer heatwaves.
Explaining the weather, forecasters said ‘large areas of high pressure, often extending from the Azores or mainland Europe, have lingered over or near the UK for extended periods since late February.
‘High pressure typically brings settled, dry weather, and while it’s not unusual to see such pressure systems in spring, their persistence this year has been more pronounced than usual.
‘This spring, the jet stream has taken a more meandering path, often looping north of the UK. This has allowed high pressure to remain in place for longer stretches, effectively blocking the usual progression of weather fronts.’
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