Pumpkins will be larger this year and it’s a result of Britain’s unpredictable weather this summer. While many Brits may have been cursing the rainier than usual mid-summer months of July and August, the inclement weather actually was good news for the UK’s pumpkin growers.
And now Tesco is bracing itself for strong demand with this season’s crop of pumpkins now on sale at stores across the UK.
Tesco pumpkin buyer Lucy Moss said: “The good news for Halloween fans coming from our main pumpkin growers is that the fruit will be larger than normal in all size variations this year as a result of very good growing conditions across the summer months."
“This year we have six different sizes and based on last year’s demand, carving variety is still the most popular although. Each of the six different size categories will be larger than usual this year so fans will get value for money."
“The good news, from a food waste point of view, is that there has been an increase in customers searching for recipes for their delicious versatile pumpkin flesh on our Tesco Real Food website.”
Oakley Farms, based near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, are one of Europe’s biggest suppliers of pumpkins, growing around five million each year.
The farm works hand in hand with Tesco to ensure that there is as little pumpkin waste as possible.
Steve Whitworth, Commercial Manager at Oakley Farms said: “We had a pretty good growing season for pumpkins this summer with a really hot June which really helped the plants along. The rainy July and August may not have been great for sun lovers or BBQ fans but from a growing point of view for pumpkins it was perfect."
“The weather gave us the right amount of rain with sunny intervals especially compared with the challenging conditions we encountered during last year’s heatwave which was officially the hottest UK year on record.”
Tesco’s pumpkins range this year is as follows:
Carving – standard size
Culinary
Munchkin
Novelty including devil (red) and ghost (white) types
Large
Giant
