Latest news with #JillWitheyman
Scotsman
21-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
‘Shapely strawberries' and reduced whisky production - how the heat is affecting Scottish producers
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It is a unseasonably warm spring spell, with temperatures reaching highs of 25.5C, that is taking its toll on some popular Scottish produce - and leading to some unexpected results. Parts of the Highlands have been hotter than Morocco this month, with a very warm, dry April and a drier and warmer than average winter leaving its mark on Scotland's growing season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad With more than 100 days of sunshine, Scotland's world-class soft fruits are having a bumper - and slightly early - season. Strawberry plants, typically grown in polytunnels north of the Border, have been producing 'giant' berries as large as 50g on the back of a largely bright and dry March and April. Jill Witheyman, head of marketing at Angus Soft Fruits, said: "A strong season like this is not just great for consumers, it's vital from a grower's business perspective too. 'High-quality fruit and consistent yields help us meet customer demand, maintain strong relationships with our buyers – the supermarkets - and reinforce our reputation for excellence. Healthy, thriving crops are also more efficient to manage and harvest, supporting both the sustainability and long-term growth of our farms.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Angus Soft Fruits strawberries | Angus Soft Fruits British Berry Growers, which represents 95 per cent of all British-grown berries sold in the UK, said the flavour profile of the 2025 yield of strawberries leans towards the sweeter end of the scale, owing to unusually high sunshine levels this spring. Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers, 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.' Pollination from bees is also an essential factor in producing the shapely strawberry figure that consumers love. The high light levels and mild weather in the early stages of spring brought the crop forward by around seven days compared to other years, according to growers. Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director at the Summer Berry Company, said: "From March onwards, it was really kind of perfect for tunnel strawberries. The berries are between 10 per cent and 20 per cent larger." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But while it is good news for those consumers who love Scottish strawberries, the warm weather, lack of rain this spring and snow this winter has not been as kind to whisky. The conditions has contributed to a much-loved Speyside distillery cutting its production days. Callum Fraser, production manager for Glenfarclas - a family-owned whisky distillery - said this is the driest he had seen the weather in all his time in his role. He said: 'Production has been halved since the end of April. This happens most years, but never this early. Normally we would start to have water issues towards the end of May into June. Callum Fraser, production manager at Glenfarclas Distillery | Supplied 'Every year we need to slow down in the drier months and schedule our production to make more in the winter months, knowing that we will be short of water in June. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This year, however, is the driest I have seen in my 13 years as manager at Glenfarclas. We had to stop production in 2018 mid-June through to mid-October due to a lack of water. It would appear that this is becoming more common than in the past.' Lack of water is also exacerbated by lack of snowfall on the hills in Speyside, with nothing falling on Ben Rinnes, the main mountain in Moray Speyside. Mr Fraser said the team were always looking for ways to save water in the whisky-making process, by reusing and recirculating. But he said the lack of snowfall was a huge issue for the water supply.
Daily Mirror
20-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Expert explains why British strawberries will taste very different this summer
Strawberry lovers can expect to pick up an even more delicious punnet this season, with experts revealing that this springtime has provided the perfect conditions for the popular fragrant fruit to thrive Balmy summer days can be made all the more heavenly with a big bowl of fresh strawberries, and this year, we're in for a real treat. According to experts, British strawberries are all set to be "sweeter and more shapely" than ever this season, with the exceptional flavour profile of the 2025 yield benefiting from unusually high levels of sunshine, as well as heightened bee activity. This means your favourite fragrant fruit will be arriving on supermarket shelves packed with even more scrumptious flavour than usual. All you'll need is a refreshing scoop of ice cream, or indeed, a glass of Pimm's, depending on your mood. But why can we expect such a particularly moreish crop this year, and what goes into growing the perfect strawberry? British Berry Growers, the body representing 95 per cent of all berries grown and sold in the UK, says that warm days and cool nights have provided the ideal conditions for this quintessentially British fruit to thrive, with the Met Office recording the highest levels of sunshine in 100 years. This has sweetened the flavour profile of the berries, while increased pollination in March and April, due to thriving bee activity, means you can expect to plenty of classically shaped strawberries. According to growers, high light levels and mild weather in early spring mean the crop has also been brought forward by around seven days compared to previous years, resulting in punnets landing on shelves earlier than expected. Peter Judge, Group Managing Director at S&A Produce & Director at British Berry Growers, explained: "The start of the British strawberry season is always a highly anticipated time, and this year is no exception. 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. "One of the amazing things about our UK growers is the sheer variety of strawberries they produce. 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." Meanwhile Jill Witheyman, Head of Marketing at Angus Soft Fruits, added: "A strong season like this is not just great for consumers, it's vital from a grower's business perspective too. High-quality fruit and consistent yields help us meet customer demand, maintain strong relationships with our buyers – the supermarkets - and reinforce our reputation for excellence. Healthy, thriving crops are also more efficient to manage and harvest, supporting both the sustainability and long-term growth of our farms.' And Amelia McLean, Director of Kent-based Hugh Lowe Farms, commented: "This year's weather has already produced berries that not only look fantastic but are also sweet and full of flavour. Given that we are at the front end of the season we're excited to see this trend continue to deliver premium berries to supermarket shelves this summer." Meanwhile, Nick Marston, Chairman of British Berry Growers, stated: ' 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.'
