Why your strawberries are going to be bigger and sweeter this year
However you like to eat your strawberries - with cream, sugar, or as Sir Andy Murray once quipped "with my fingers" - this season is set to be one the sweetest and most shapely on record.
The bumper harvest of strawberries is down to an unusually sunny spring, with the highest levels recorded by the Met Office in more than 100 years, paired with some cooler weather, which has allowed the crop to develop slowly with sweeter results.
Heightened bee activity during March and April has also resulted in excellent pollination - an essential factor in producing the classic strawberry shape.
Marion Regan from the Kent-based Hugh Lowe Farms praised the "glorious spring this year which has contributed to a really good crop of the fruit."
"We have been noticing that this year's berries were a good size so far but that the most marked thing was their sweetness and full flavour," she said.
Peter Judge from British Berry Growers added this year's weather conditions have allowed the crops to deveop 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," he added.
Hugh Lowe Farms count Wimbledon tennis among one of their clients, with those attending likely to be the benefactors of this year's crop - with the iconic of pairing of cream.
British Berry Growers also stress this year's harvest is producing a wide variety of strawberries with differing flavour profiles.
"I'd encourage consumers to look out for the varieties on packs and try something new this year. There's so much choice now that there really is a strawberry for every palate," said Judge.
The high light levels and mild weather in the early stages of spring also brought the crop forward by around seven days compared to other years, according to growers.
But they also say they expect to see this continue throughout the season.
Marion Regan added: "Given that we are at the front end of the season we're excited to see this trend continue to deliver fantastic berries to supermarket shelves from now until November.'
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