UK | Sprouts are expected to grow up to 25 percent larger this year and be tastier due to good growing conditions and new varieties suited to the UK climate and soil.
Tesco has been working with suppliers like T H Clements in Lincolnshire and Drysdale in Berwickshire, Scotland, to find hardier varieties for the UK climate.
The move followed a challenging growing season last year, during which heavy rainfall in late November and through December led to a poorer-than-normal yield and crop.
The retailer has expected to sell around 1.5 million kg of sprouts two weeks before Christmas.
“We’ve been working hard this year to bring in new varieties that have helped us deliver a better-tasting sprout with a crunchier texture and perfect size,” said Tesco sprout buyer Simon Tenwick.
“The quality of the festive crop that has been coming through in the last few weeks is among the best we’ve had in recent years, and we are certain sprout fans will be delighted.”
T H Clements said that last year's poor harvesting conditions caused the average sprout size to be 24mm in diameter, but this year, thanks to the new varieties, it has been 30mm.
Last year, heavy rainfall continued throughout much of the autumn due to Storm Babet. Instead of the colder weather needed to ‘finish off’ the sprouts in late November and early December, it continued to be mild and wet.
In the UK, two-thirds of the total sprout consumption occurred outside the festive season, and Brits ate more Brussels sprouts than anyone else in Europe. Around 25 percent of the annual consumption of Brussels sprouts occurred in the two weeks before Christmas.
“This year, we’ve pretty much had a reversal in growing conditions to 2023 with the right amounts of warmth and sunshine during the summer months after they were planted, good amounts of rain during the autumn and now colder weather in December,” said T H Clements Commercial Director John Moulding.
“We’ve worked hard over the last 12 months to improve not only this year’s but future crop yields, starting by the selection of new land to plant the sprouts - the alluvial silts, only found on the east coast of Lincolnshire.”
Moulding added that the silts were situated in different growing areas with their microclimates and coastal frost protection. Sprouts enjoyed the breeze of the coast that provided frost protection.
In the run-up to Christmas, T H Clements will run up to 16 harvesters to provide Britain with 192 million sprouts. The company has committed to achieving carbon-neutral status by 2040 and investing in modern farming techniques that work with nature.
