Whether they add them to smoothies or salads or just pop them straight in their mouths, Britons are eating more blueberries than ever before. But whereas supermarket shelves used to be filled with imports, fruit growers are hailing a “British blueberry boom”.
Sales of British blueberries are up by 13% this year, despite challenging conditions for growers, according to British Berry Growers (BBG), the industry trade group. It said the rise was a “clear indicator of the rising consumer demand for healthier food choices and a testament to the quality of British blueberries”.
Neil Donaldson, the commercial director at Hall Hunter, the UK’s biggest blueberry grower, said demand for the “ultimate superfood” was at record levels. They are popular with all age groups and in recent years have become a lunchbox staple for many families. “They’re packed full of antioxidants, packed full of vitamins, and that message is slowly getting out there … they’ve also got better [shelf] life than a strawberry or a raspberry.”
UK shoppers buy about 60,000 tonnes of blueberries each year and British growers supply about a tenth of that figure, with the rest made up from imports. Depending on the time of year, shipments arrive from eastern European countries such as Poland or, in the depths of winter, Peru or Chile.
“Everyone thinks of blueberries as almost like a tropical fruit that’s grown abroad. We’re slowly educating people that we do produce blueberries,” said Donaldson.
The UK’s biggest retailer, Tesco, wants to sell more British blueberries and is working with suppliers on a production programme to take larger volumes and guarantee a return. The UK climate has always suited the fruit, but growers are extending the growing season with different varieties that mature either earlier or later than those traditionally planted.
With a crop of about 2,500 tonnes this year, Hall Hunter, with farms in Berkshire and Surrey, is behind almost half of all UK blueberry production. It is planting a further 55 hectares (135 acres), which will produce about 4,000 tonnes of blueberries.
The purple patch is welcome news for an industry struggling to balance the books, says the BBG chair, Nick Marston.
Berry demand is seemingly “ever increasing”, with the most recent figures from the data firm Kantar showing the total market – including strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, plus combining imports and UK-grown supplies – hit sales of £1.9bn in the 52 weeks to 1 September, with the market up 11% in value and 5% in volume.
However, figures from British growers show that while there was a double-digit increase in blueberry sales volumes, growth for the much larger strawberry market was 1%, while raspberry and blackberrysales fell back by 5% and 2% respectively.
In July the BBG warned that two-fifths of British growers of strawberries and raspberries could go out of business by the end of 2026 amid rising costs and poor pay from supermarkets.
“The pressure on growers is particularly acute on raspberries and blackberries,” said Marston, who added that some farms were scaling back production due to crippling labour costs – it is estimated that wages constitute two-thirds of the cost of punnet of raspberries.
For blueberries there is a higher level of automation in the harvesting and packing process, which means a lower labour cost. Hall Hunter, for example, has a state-of-the-art harvester capable of picking 600kg of fruit an hour.
Growers are often competing with cheaper imports. Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director at The Summer Berry Company, which produces 10,000 tonnes of fruit a year, said there was scope to grow more blueberries in the UK but it required support from retailers.
“Farmers, including us, have land to farm them, but it has to be financially sustainable,” Pinkosz said, adding that it was frustrating when British blueberries were in season, between June and September, to see imports on supermarket shelves. “It is not about making a huge profit but making sure that all costs are covered.”
Marston said: “We don’t have a firm number for it, but even at the peak of the UK season, probably half the blueberries on the shelves are still imported, so there’s loads of opportunity for British growers to produce more. It is vital that retailers continue to improve their relationships with growers and offer fair returns, so that we may meet this growing demand and provide the British public with the berries they want.”
