Sainsbury's increases year-round availability of British tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers with new long-term agreements

• New 10-year partnerships with Evesham Vale Growers and Thanet Earth will strengthen the availability of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers on Sainsbury’s shelves, by growing more at home and improving resilience in a category historically impacted by weather-based shocks 
• Through its long-term partnership approach and agreement with Thanet Earth, Sainsbury’s is helping to unlock a new opportunity for British cucumbers, extending availability beyond the summer season into the winter months and securing British-grown produce at a time when the category has traditionally relied more heavily on imports
• Benefits of these long-term agreements will be seen on shelves as early as this summer with the launch of the new Taste the Difference British Salad Selection 800g Box
• Announcement part of Sainsbury’s wider commitment to invest more than £5bn in long-term agreements with more than 2,400 British and Irish farms

Strengthening supply by investing in more UK produce

Sainsbury’s today announces two new long-term agreements with UK producers Evesham Vale Growers and Thanet Earth to help improve the resilience of salad veg by increasing the volume of its British-grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers available to its customers.

British-grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are already an important part of Sainsbury’s strong and growing salad offer, but extreme weather across warmer growing regions is underlining the need for supermarkets to think differently about how they build more resilient supply chains. 

More home-grown produce and innovation in these categories is becoming a key part of the solution to increasing the availability of these customer favourites all year round. As a further expansion of its long-term partnership model, these new 10-year agreements are designed to support this.

Taking British cucumbers beyond the summer season

Through its new long-term agreement with Thanet Earth, Sainsbury’s will also, for the first time, sell British-grown cucumbers through the winter months - a major move that aims to increase the volume of British-grown whole cucumbers on its shelves up to 60% this winter. The move will also help shore up resilience of the category year-round as weather shocks - such as increased rainfall - continue to impact warmer regions through the winter months. 

The new British winter crop will be grown at Thanet Earth in Kent, the UK’s largest single site glasshouse complex, where supplementary lighting, heat, and CO₂ are carefully managed to create the conditions cucumber plants need to keep growing through the darkest months of the year.

The move has been made possible by the certainty provided through Sainsbury’s long-term partnership with Thanet Earth, giving the growers the confidence to invest in the glasshouse capacity needed to grow cucumbers commercially through a British winter.

Rob James, Technical Director at Thanet Earth commented: “Working with Sainsbury’s in this way means we can plan ahead with more certainty and keep pushing what’s possible for British growing. A good example is our investment in the technology needed to grow cucumbers through the winter, creating the right conditions for the crop and helping bring more British-grown produce to customers at a time of year when that has not previously been possible.”

Building on demand for British tomatoes

The agreements also support Sainsbury’s strong and growing tomato offer. Last year, Taste the Difference tomatoes generated more than £120 million in sales and accounted for over 65% of Sainsbury’s total tomato sales, with five of the top 10 Taste the Difference lines across the retailer sitting within the tomato category. 

With customer demand for British tomatoes continuing to perform strongly, Sainsbury’s has supported British Tomato Fortnight for the past five years with this year seeing its strongest ever tomato sales.

Paul Faulkner, Director at Evesham Vale Growers said: “Our long-standing partnership with Sainsbury’s is built on a shared commitment of growing and delivering great-quality tomatoes for its customers. Having the confidence and certainty that comes with a long-term agreement allows us to look ahead to the future and invest in our business, build on the number of British grown tomatoes already on Sainsbury’s shelves, extend availability and ensure customers can enjoy more British-grown produce.”

Helping British growers to plan ahead and invest for the future

The new agreements are among the longest in the industry and are designed to give British growers the certainty they need to invest for the long term, at a time when the sector is facing rising costs, climate volatility and growing pressure on supply. They form part of Sainsbury’s wider commitment to investing in long-term agreements with thousands of British and Irish farms, providing growers with the confidence to invest for the future.

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About Sainsbury’s 
Offering delicious great quality food at competitive prices has been at the heart of what we do since John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury opened our first store in 1869. Today, inspiring and delighting our customers with tasty food remains our priority and our purpose is clear – we make good food joyful, accessible and affordable for everyone, every day.

Our focus on great value food and convenient shopping, whether in-store or online is supported by our brands – Argos, Nectar, Tu Clothing, Habitat and Smart Charge. Sainsbury’s has more than 600 supermarkets and over 885 convenience stores. Argos is a leading digital retailer with over 80 per cent of its sales starting online and 20 million active customers. Digital and technology enables us to adapt as customers shop differently and our profitable, fast-growing online channels offer customers quick and convenient delivery and collection capability.