CERTAIN SOCIAL events may be off the calendar this year but British strawberries can still be enjoyed as part of the summer.

The sunnier April weather has meant that the season started around a week earlier this year, and strawberry lovers around the country have already started buying British-grown punnets from supermarkets and online – a sign that despite recent challenges summer has arrived!

British Summer Fruits’ public health nutritionist, Dr Emma Derbyshire, explained how strawberries can boost health and immunity: "Berries are a fantastic snack that offer numerous health benefits. Not only is the whole strawberry rich in antioxidants, but the red fleshy part is also abundant in vitamin C. In fact, eating just nine strawberries (108g) can provide all of your recommended daily vitamin C intake.”

During the past year, nearly 150,000 tonnes of strawberries were sold in the UK, which has been compared to the equivalent weight of 1.67 million average men. Despite the very different supermarket shopping experience right now, berry growers are confident that British berry sales will remain strong this year.

Chairman of British Summer Fruits, Nick Marston, said: “Like most industries facing challenges during this unprecedented time, our growers have had to overcome their own issues to ensure our loved British berries are available to the UK public. We are sure that consumers will continue to choose fresh British berries as part of their shop to enjoy and stay healthy. And in doing so, they’ll help to safeguard the future of our important British berry industry.”