High street giant Marks and Spencer has recognised the fruits of a light-blessed horticultural specialist’s spring labour on the outskirts of Hull.
First strawberries of the season were on the shelves in April, thanks to East End Nurseries at Keyingham, as both now looks towards a splendid summer.
The sprawling nine acre site set under glass benefits from the reflected light off both the North Sea and the River Humber.
Exceptional spring weather combined with the innovative growing methods practised by the East Yorkshire team brought early cheer.
The company is exclusively supplying M&S, with the 45-strong operation gearing up to provide a staggering 200,000 punnets a week.
Peter Overvoorde, managing director of East End Nurseries, said: “M&S’s commitment to British farming is more relevant than ever, and we’re proud of our decade long partnership with the retailer.
“During these challenging times all farmers have needed to adapt to ensure we can continue to supply the nation – we’ve been working extremely closely with M&S to make sure customers will be able to enjoy our strawberries throughout the summer.
“Our fantastic team is already picking thousands of punnets a week, and this will continue in the months to come.”
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The business is a fifth and sixth generation operation, and last year picked up an M&S Select Farm Award in recognition of their approach to renewable energy - biomass boilers, LED lighting and thermal screening are all used.
Awards for the taste and quality of their strawberries are also a regular occurrence.
M&S strawberry buyer, Alan Kinnear, said: “Our family of 10,000 British farmers are enabling us to deliver fantastic quality for our customers throughout these challenging times. We are committed to supporting our growers and East End Nurseries is a fantastic example of a family-run business helping to feed the nation. We hope that families around the nation will enjoy their strawberries this season.”
East End is a sister company to the long-established Premier Plant Producers Ltd, a wholesale young plant propagator specialising in salads, brassicas, strawberries and more recently, tree saplings.
Mr Overoorde’s father Joh established it back in 1949, crossing from Holland to settle in Hull.
A total of 17 acres of greenhouses and a further six acres of outdoor ‘hardening off’ areas are used.
East end was bought by Peter in 1986, switching from tomato production to strawberries in 2002, taking inspiration from Dutch methods.
A further 8,000 sq m of polytunnels complement the fixed glass, giving a 300 tonne capability.