A new update has been issued for all Brits purchasing raspberries in shops and supermarkets this year. The good news revolves around the Brix scale, a measure of sugar content in fruit. British raspberries are up to 50% sweeter than usual, thanks to a cool spring followed by record-breaking May temperatures, according to industry representatives.
Exceptional Sweetness This Season
This season's raspberries are registering levels of 11 to 12 on the Brix scale, compared with average readings of around eight. British Berry Growers, which represents the industry, said this increase is the biggest seen in years.
Producers attribute the "standout" quality of this year's crop to the extended cold spring, which allowed plants to develop robust leaf canopies and root systems without the stress of excessive heat. When warmer conditions arrived, the fruit ripened gradually and uniformly, giving the berries a deep red colour and a noticeably sweeter flavour.
Growers' Perspectives
British Berry Growers chairman Nick Marston said: "The arrival of the British raspberry season is always a welcome moment and this year, with careful management, our growers have a wonderful crop developing. Strawberries may have grabbed the headlines earlier in the season, but now it's raspberries' turn. The same favourable growing conditions have produced an exceptional crop, with fantastic sweetness, flavour and quality."
Lochy Porter, co-founder at Angus Soft Fruits, commented: "The raspberries are something very special this year. I've been growing them for 35 years, and I've rarely seen Brix readings like this. The cool spring set the plants up perfectly, then the sunshine came at exactly the right time. You can taste it straight off the raspberry cane."
George Beedell, head of business development at growers WB Chambers in Kent, added: "The slow start back in May is the secret here; it let the sugars really develop, so the berries are coming off the cane deliciously sweet this year. Then the sun arrived at just the right moment for a record-breaking bank holiday weekend. We've had warm days and mild nights, and that's exactly what a raspberry wants. They've had time to develop more too, so they're bigger than usual as well as sweeter. They're eating beautifully right now; I'd call it a vintage year."
