Fruit blog

Fruit Buyer’s Report | Fruitful Office June 2014

Dear All,

As the weather continues to improve, so does the availability and taste of summer fruit varieties. Like us, fruit also loves the sun - it helps sweeten fruit resulting in a massive improvement in taste.

• Berries. Strawberries' quality has improved significantly and we have now been including them in our seasonal baskets. Feedback from clients has been excellent - several of them asking us where we get them from and advice on how to purchase them! The 400g/500g punnet sizes of either English, Dutch or Belgian are the best in terms of taste. The Spanish strawberries typically come in smaller punnets and are a lot cheaper, but you have to choose carefully because quality can vary significantly. Stick to English, Dutch or Belgium at this time of the year and your really can't go wrong - and you get to support local farmers. Also watch this space for cherries!
• Peaches. Their quality has improved and we are now also including them in our seasonal baskets (we have started with relatively few but we will be increasing counts as quality and availability continue to improve). Peaches are high in antioxidant Vitamin C, which helps the body to develop resistance against infectious agents and harmful free radicals. They are also rich in minerals such as potassium, fluoride and iron. They are low in calories and contain no saturated fats. Peaches don't grow in the UK but they are available close by from several European countries - Greek are the first to become available, closely followed by Italy, then Spain, then French (as the season progresses)
• Other varieties. Plums are still not widely available and in good enough quality, but watch this space because quality is improving daily and they should be entering our mix in about two weeks. For citrus fruit go with clementines rather than satsumas for sweetness and taste

Stay healthy everyone.

Fruitful Office team