Greenery UK supports growers during British Tomato Week
Fruit and vegetable supplier Greenery UK celebrated British Tomato Week by handing out sustainably grown tomatoes produced by one of the companys own growers.
Greenery UK, along with Norfolk-Based tomato growers Cornerways Nursery, visited Sainsburys stores in Cambridge and Norwich and Tescos head office in Cheshunt to promote the British eco friendly tomatoes.
A variety of tomatoes were made available for people to taste and then take away with them.
Cooking and storage tips were suggested by the growers from Cornerways Nursery with recipe leaflets also available for tomato lovers.
The tomatoes from Cornerways Nursery are grown in a unique 10.6 hectare (26.5 acre) greenhouse that is believed to be the UKs largest project for reusing heat and CO2. The nursery produces over 70 million tomatoes annually between April and November.
Cornerways Nursery greenhouses, located alongside the British Sugar processing plant at Wissington, Norfolk use no fuel for heating. All the heat needed to maintain a year-round growing temperature of around 20oC is provided by the combined heat and power (CHP) system in the adjacent sugar processing plant.
Over 5,000 bumblebees, living in 100 bee hives, pollinate the crops and are part of the nurserys integrated approach to crop management using natural agents and predators in preference to agro-chemicals.
Tomatoes from Cornerways Nursery are sold via Greenery UK a major supplier of salads and fresh vegetables to UK supermarkets and the biggest supplier of homegrown UK tomatoes.
Will Ison, business unit manager for Greenery UK, said: British Tomato Week is a fantastic opportunity to increase public awareness about sustainably grown, British produce. The tomato tasting was great fun and a chance for the public to learn more about British tomatoes. Greenery UK is pleased to help promote the delicious tomatoes Cornerways Nursery produces and the British tomato industry as a whole.
Nigel Bartle, manager of Cornerways Nursery, said: Our tomatoes are grown with minimum environmental impact and delivered to local stores with minimum food miles used in transport. British Tomato Week aims to highlight the quality of produce that is grown in Britain.
The Greenery is one of Europe’s major producers and importers of fresh fruit and vegetables with an average annual turnover of approximately 1.6 billion Euros. It supplies produce to almost all of the major UK supermarkets and to similar outlets in Europe, North America and the Far East. Around 2,500 people are employed by the company across the globe.
British Tomato Week is organised by the British Tomato Growers Association to promote the British industry. For details see www.BritishTomatoes.co.uk.