Goodby to British strawberries? Future of UK berry-growing sector ‘hangs in balance’

Shoppers spent a record £847.5 million on strawberries over the last 12 months

Strawberries are carried around the grounds during day two of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships (Getty Images)

British berry growers are at risk of going out of business in the next two years due to rising costs and squeezed supermarket prices, according to a report.

Concerns about the future of the sector came as shoppers spent a record £847.5 million on strawberries over the last 12 months.

British Berry Growers (BBG), which represents more than 95% of locally-grown berries sold in the UK, found almost half of growers (47%) reported not making a profit, suggesting that 40% could go out of business by the end of 2026.

Some 37% of growers polled were considering reducing their production or moving out of berry farming entirely.

But 89% of growers who were no longer profitable said they stopped making a profit after 2020, due largely to the rise in the cost of production, BBG said.

Costs of labour, fertilisers, packaging and transport had all increased by £836 per tonne for British strawberries in the last four years, with raspberries, blackberries and blueberries increasing by £1,911, £1,996, and £2,326 per tonne respectively.

Over half of the investment in producing a punnet of strawberries is hourly-paid labour, a cost that has increased significantly over the last four years, the study said.

But growers said they were also suffering from a lack of support from supermarkets.

Growers said they were suffering from a lack of support from supermarkets (Philip Toscano/PA) (PA Wire)

BBG chairman Nick Marston said: “Supermarkets are starting to listen. They are recognising that growers need a fair return to cover the increased costs of production, otherwise they’ll simply move out of berry growing.

“However, relationships with supermarkets have been hurt by the lack of support in recent years – 39% of our growers say their relationship with retailers has never been this bad.

“We must take this survey as a wake-up call and a sign to take urgent action. The future of this great sector hangs in the balance. It would be a travesty to lose British berries.

“We need support from retailers in the form of fair returns, but we also need support from the Government to ensure we have an uninterrupted supply of pickers during our peak season.

“Increasing the length of seasonal worker scheme visas from six to nine months would ensure we get the people we need to pick our fruit throughout our extended growing season.

“We are also calling for an agile and more responsive approval process for berry exports from the UK that would allow British growers to take advantage of market opportunities in the EU and further afield.

“This feedback from UK berry growers is a warning – a warning we need to take seriously if we are to secure the future of our iconic berries.”

Agriculture’s reliance on migrant seasonal workers, for jobs like fruit picking in the summer, is ‘unlike any other in the UK’ (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)

Michelin-starred chef and Great British Menu main course winner, Tom Shepherd, said: “As a chef who loves to use local produce, I feel so lucky to have some of the very best berries in the world right on my doorstep, and to have them available for so much of the year.

“It would be a disaster if Britain were to lose this great product. I would encourage everyone to go out and buy some berries, enjoy them and support local growers. We must secure a sustainable future for one of the nation’s leading products.”