The UK’s first geothermal glasshouse expects its inaugural winter crop of strawberries within weeks, demonstrating how heat from deep beneath the ground could help UK growers extend the domestic production season for fresh produce and reduce reliance on imports. Image: University of Lincoln The first-of-its-kind £2.4m research facility, officially opened this week by HRH The Princess Royal, is located on the University of Lincoln’s Riseholme Campus. The pioneering glasshouse

Waitrose is investing £20m to lower prices on hundreds of everyday essentials regularly bought by its customers for breakfast, lunchboxes, and family meals, including several fruits and vegetables. Image: Waitrose The reductions will save shoppers 20% or more off the full price of staples such as apples, pears, tomatoes, orange juice, bread, and porridge oats, as families return to their routines this September. Other fresh produce items included in the price cuts include avo

UK pumpkin growers are warning that this year’s crop could be significantly reduced with smaller-than-usual sizing after prolonged heat and drought stunted growth during the key production stage. The pumpkins are expected to be almost half their normal size in some areas, while growers also report thicker skins that could make the fruit more difficult to carve. High temperatures have been a particular challenge considering pumpkin growth slows when temperatures reach 30°C, ac

UK grocery price inflation edged higher in early September, adding further pressure to household budgets as shoppers continued to seek out promotions and prioritise essential purchases. Like-for-like grocery inflation reached 2.3% in the four weeks to 6 September, up from 2.1% in the previous month, according to Worldpanel by Numerator. Although the rate increased, Worldpanel described inflation as relatively subdued and significantly below the levels recorded earlier in the

Britain’s office workers are rediscovering the packed lunch as rising food-to-go prices push more people towards homemade meals — creating fresh opportunities for retailers across salads, vegetables and convenient meal-preparation ingredients. Nearly half of UK professionals, 46%, are taking a packed lunch to work more frequently than they did a year ago, according to data from Ocado reported by Talking Retail. Financial pressures are driving much of the change. Some 69% of r

Veg Power and The Food Foundation have joined forces to launch a nationwide campaign helping families maintain healthy diets as rising food costs continue to squeeze household budgets. The Eat Well for Less initiative offers practical advice for making affordable, nutritious and filling foods — including fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses — a regular part of everyday meals. Developed in consultation with Felix, Hubbub’s Community Fridge Network, Feeding Britain, The Bread an

The countdown is well and truly under way. In just a few days, the fresh produce and floriculture sectors will come together in London for the Fresh Awards 2026 – a night dedicated to recognising the people and businesses that have continued to deliver through another extraordinarily demanding year. Taking place on Friday 25 September at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Park Lane, the Fresh Awards will celebrate outstanding achievement, innovation and determination across e

Fresh fruit and vegetables are set to play a much greater role in school meals under what the Government has described as the biggest shake-up of food standards in England’s schools for more than a decade. The new standards will come into effect from September 2027, subject to parliamentary approval, although secondary schools will have an additional year to implement some measures. Under the revised framework, every main meal will need to include vegetables or salad, either

Morocco could become the UK’s third-largest supplier of sweet peppers as rapidly rising shipments continue to reshape the British import market. The UK imported 10,400 tonnes of Moroccan sweet peppers, valued at more than £17 million, between October 2025 and June 2026, according to figures reported by EastFruit. Shipments increased by 60% compared with the 2024/25 marketing year and were nearly three times higher than in 2023/24. Over the past three years, Moroccan sweet pep

Extreme heat affecting agricultural workers across the Mediterranean is creating a growing threat to the UK’s fresh produce supply, according to new analysis reported by The Grocer. Research by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that the 22 Mediterranean countries examined supplied £18.1bn of food to the UK in 2025. This represented 26.8% of the value and 25.1% of the weight of all UK food imports. Across those countries, agricultural workers lost an estimate

Melons have emerged as an unlikely success story from Britain’s record-breaking summer, with a Devon farmer successfully producing cantaloupes outdoors as warmer conditions encourage growers to experiment with crops traditionally associated with southern Europe. Alvaro cantaloupe melons grown at the 300-acre Martinsfield Farm in Broadclyst have flourished during the heatwaves, according to The Telegraph. Unlike some British melon crops cultivated under the protection of polyt

A Berlin supermarket is growing salad just metres above the shelves where it is sold, in a striking example of how urban agriculture could shorten fresh produce supply chains. The REWE Green Farming store in Lankwitz is topped by a 2,760 sq m glasshouse which REWE describes as Germany’s largest rooftop farm. Its “Lankwitz loose-leaf lettuce” is grown hydroponically in an almost soil-free, largely automated system. The salad mix initially combines Batavia, green romaine, Lollo

A container ship’s arrival in the UK after travelling from China through Arctic waters could mark the start of a regular route to Europe and an alternative to the Suez Canal, including the possibility of faster supply chains for temperature-sensitive goods. The Dubai Tower reached Teesport in northeast England on Wednesday (9 September), following its landmark voyage from Ningbo Zhoushan Port in eastern China on 15 August, reports The Independent. Originally, the vessel, whi

Tropical fruit supplier Fyffes has launched an ambitious new framework to strengthen its long-term supply reliability; targeting complete regenerative agriculture integration across 13,000 hectares of its owned banana and pineapple operations by 2030. Image: Fyffes The company, one of the largest banana and pineapple importers in Europe, also plans to extend proven regenerative approaches across its wider supply chain, as it seeks to improve its climate resilience, support gr

Langmead Herbs has acquired specialist fresh cut herbs business R&G Fresh for an undisclosed sum, bringing together two family-owned businesses with operations spanning growing, importing, and packing. Image: Langmead Herbs Langmead said the move marks a new chapter for the Sussex-based group as it strengthens its supply chain, expands capacity, and enhances its ability to deliver exceptional products to customers. With growing demand for high-quality, sustainably sourced ing

UK food prices are expected to remain under significant pressure through 2027, as the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) warns that the cost of a weekly supermarket shop could reach nearly £150 by next summer. A combination of high energy costs, extreme weather, and rising regulatory costs are prolonging the difficult outlook with fruit and vegetable prices already experiencing some of the biggest cost increases this year, reports The Telegraph. The FDF forecasts that food infla

Fresh produce surplus specialist Oddbox is marking its 10th anniversary, highlighting the importance of alternative routes to market for UK fruit and vegetable growers whose edible crops fail to meet retail specifications. Image: Oddbox Over the past decade, Oddbox has rescued more than 67,000 tonnes of produce that could have been wasted thanks to its sourcing model, reports Grocery Gazette. During that time, Oddbox has expanded from a small south London operation into a bu

Sainsbury’s is putting eight organic fresh produce lines, including some British-sourced organic vegetables, on half-price promotion in the latest round of its September Nectar shopper loyalty campaign. Image: Sainsbury's The four-day promotion, which runs from Thursday 10 September to Sunday 13 September, includes a mix of core vegetable categories alongside bananas and kiwifruit, reports GB News. The move provides further evidence of the prominent role that loyalty-linked p

Britain's declining food self-sufficiency has prompted renewed calls to strengthen domestic production, while the Fresh Produce Consortium's warnings about global supply risks underline the importance of protecting access to overseas sources. New NFU analysis, published on Back British Farming Day, reveals that UK self-sufficiency fell in 10 of the 11 food commodities examined between 1995 and 2024. The union is urging ministers to set ambitious targets for homegrown food. Fr

Lea Valley growers have reported pepper losses of up to 40% after summer heatwaves damaged crops, adding to the financial pressure on businesses already struggling with soaring production costs. The Lea Valley Growers' Association, whose members produce around three-quarters of Britain's cucumbers and sweet peppers in glasshouses across London, Essex and Hertfordshire, told the BBC that 27,000kg of peppers had been lost over 10 weeks of picking. Association director Jimmy Rus