Lidl Pledges £500m Boost For British Berry Growers

Lidl GB has announced a £500 million commitment to British berry sourcing, in a move designed to give UK growers greater certainty amid rising costs, labour pressures and increasingly unpredictable weather.

The supermarket said the figure reflects the value of sourcing contracts with British-based berry suppliers over the next five years. The longer-term agreements are intended to help growers plan production, invest in their businesses and scale up home-grown volumes.

Lidl said demand for British berries continues to grow strongly. British blueberry sales through the discounter have risen by more than 200 per cent over the past three years, while British blackberries are up almost 93 per cent over the same period. Deluxe Blush Strawberries recorded a 50 per cent volume increase last year.

According to British Berry Growers, Lidl’s British berry volumes have increased from around 11,500 tonnes in 2023 to more than 15,700 tonnes in 2025 — a rise of more than 36 per cent in two seasons. The organisation said Lidl now accounts for around 12.6 per cent of all British berry tonnage sold through its members across strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.

Richard Bourns, chief commercial officer at Lidl GB, said: “We are backing British farming with a £500million vote of confidence in our British berry growers.

“By extending our long-term agreements, we’re providing the security suppliers need to build a resilient future.”

He said the agreements would allow suppliers to invest, innovate and scale production, helping to make fresh British berries more widely available to customers.

The announcement has been welcomed by Dearnsdale Farm in Staffordshire, a long-standing supplier of British produce.

Tom Busby, director at Dearnsdale Farm, said the family business had been farming at Dearnsdale for 100 years, producing British produce “to feed the nation”.

He said Dearnsdale Fruit had built a “strong, open, collaborative relationship” with Lidl GB, focused on supplying quality, affordable and sustainable berries.

“Now we have a long-term agreement with Lidl GB, this will give us as a British grower the opportunity and confidence to continue to invest and adapt in the everchanging world of berries into the next century,” he said.

Nick Marston, chair of British Berry Growers, said the move represented a significant commitment to the UK berry sector.

“This kind of retailer investment and commitment to British berries is exactly what our growers need and, as we head into another British berry season, that continued support for homegrown produce is more important than ever,” he said.

The new agreements build on Lidl GB’s wider £30 billion sourcing commitment to the British food and farming industry by 2030.