Brussel sprouts are expected to have benefited from a notable growth spurt this season, with Tesco predicting crops to be 25% larger in size than normal, thanks to the development of new varieties better suited to the UK’s climate and soil.
This year, Tesco has worked alongside suppliers like T H Clements in Lincolnshire and Drysdale in Berwickshire, Scotland, to cultivate hardier varieties, more adept at overcoming harsher weather conditions.
Tesco sprout buyer, Simon Tenwick, explained: “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.
“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.”
TH Clements, which is one of the UK’s largest producers of brussel sprouts, said that last year’s harvest was impeded by poor weather conditions, resulting in the average sprout size being approximately 24mm in diameter.
Last year, heavy rainfall persisted throughout much of autumn 2023, aided in part by Storm Babet’s impact, with the subsequent wet and mild November and December, negating the cold weather conditions required to ‘finish off’ the brussel sprout crop.
This year however, thanks to its new varieties and a more suitable climate, T H Clements has claimed that the average sized sprout has surged to that of 30mm in diameter.
T H Clements commercial director John Moulding said: “This year, we’ve pretty much had a reversal in growing conditions to those of 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.
“We’ve worked hard over the last 12 months to improve not only this year’s crop, but also future crop yields, starting with the selection of new land to plant the sprouts, the alluvial silts, which are only found on the east coast of Lincolnshire.
“These silts are situated in different growing areas, which all have their own microclimates and coastal frost protection. Sprouts enjoy the breeze off the coast, which also offers frost protection.”
In the lead up to Christmas, T H Clements reportedly plans to run up to 16 harvesters to provide Britain with 192 million sprouts during the festive period.
Retail giant, Tesco, has also said it expects to sell around 1.5 million kg of sprouts in the two weeks before Christmas, which is the equivalent weight of 285 London buses, or three sprouts per head of the UK population.
