Sainsbury’s will be able to offer British-grown tomatoes all year round for the first time this year thanks to a new collaboration with Thanet Earth.
The tomatoes will be produced under so-called ‘lit production’ conditions - ie. in greenhouses fitted with lights throughout to ensure fruit flourish outside the traditional UK season.
A spokeswoman for Fresca Group said Thanet Earth would be the first commercial grower in the UK to use the system, powered in part by electricity generated by Thanet Earth. The lights were likely to be used from October, she added.
Tomatoes were planted in Thanet’s light-fitted greenhouses last week and will be used to supply Sainsbury’s with British tomatoes in the run up to and after Christmas. The Elegance variety tomatoes will be sold under the name Jubilee as part of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range.
Sainsbury’s product technical manager Simon Hinks said it was responding to consumer demand. “Our customers tell us they want to buy more UK produce, so we have worked closely with our suppliers using new and innovative growing techniques to grow our Taste the Difference Jubilee Vine tomatoes throughout the winter.”
Sainsbury’s hoped to extend 365-day supply to other tomato lines in the future, he added.
Richard Diplock, commercial manager at Thanet Earth Marketing, said lit production meant high-quality tomatoes could be harvested every week of the year.
“Our customers can access a British product with superior quality and flavour, with fruit that’s been grown sustainably even outside the ‘traditional’ British growing season,” he said.
Increasing British supply is a key plank of Sainsbury’s 20x20 sustainability Plan, which includes a target to double the amount of British food sold by 2020.
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