NEW technology trialled by a nursery in Lawford is making strawberries available in stores four weeks earlier this year.
Wallings Nursery, in Harwich Road, is growing the fruit for Sainsbury’s.
The nursery will harvest about two tonnes of strawberries this week – enough to fill 9,000 punnets.
It has been supplying Sainsbury’s with berries for about 20 years, and since 2008 the supermarket has been its sole buyer.
A grant from the superstore allowed the nursery to try out new techniques, including LED lights and new varieties of strawberry.
Christopher Batchelor, managing director at Wallings Nursery, said: “We are delighted to have these early strawberries to give the customer a choice between what you can buy from abroad, which is usually Spanish fruit, and locally grown fruits.”
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