Acres of sweet, red strawberries are ripening in West Sussex this winter ready to be sold in UK supermarkets. LED lighting in vast glasshouses is enabling berries to be grown all year on a commercial scale for the first time ever. It means less reliance on fruit flown in from countries like Egypt. "The LED lighting is the prime reason for successful growing," said Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director of The Summer Berry Company, who scooped the UK Grower of the Year award at

Lidl is gearing up for a fresh chapter of expansion after celebrating the opening of its 1,000th store in Britain, with chief executive Ryan McDonnell signalling there’s plenty more growth in the pipeline. Image courtesy of Lidl The German discount supermarket arm has seen rapid growth in recent years, with a near fourfold increase in pre-tax profits to around £157m in the financial year to February 28, 2025, and revenues climbing to £11.7bn as shopper numbers surged. That re

Citrus fruit is firmly back on the public health agenda as the UK grapples with a sharp rise in flu, colds, norovirus and Covid cases this December, with flu in particular spreading at pace. Health figures published this week show flu hospitalisations have reached a record level for this point in the season, jumping 55 per cent in a single week to an average of 2,660 patients in hospital each day. The scale and speed of the increase has prompted renewed public health messag

Defra and APHA have declared the Colorado beetle, a serious threat to potato crops, eradicated following a two‑year surveillance and control campaign, as market research signals growth potential for UK potatoes in value-added and convenience formats. Image: Defra © Crown Copyright Following two years of intensive monitoring of outbreak and surrounding potato fields in Kent, there have been limited findings since the beetle was spotted in 2023 , providing a boost for growers.