Driscoll's, the global player in fresh berries, has strengthened its long-term relationship with The French Garden, your exclusive partner in New Covent Garden, and the two companies seek to maximize the sales potential of berries and cherries in the market.

British cherries have been a particular focus in the last quarter and are considered a customer favourite, with Driscoll's finding in its latest research that 91% of British consumers expressed a preference for British-grown cherries.

Driscoll's research also found that seven of the 10 best-performing cherry varieties were British, with higher Brix levels, meaning British cherries are sweeter, encouraging more people to buy them.

Jon Hillary, Driscoll's cherry product director, said: “Favourable weather conditions for cherry growth this year allowed us to offer consumers tasty British cherries earlier than usual.

We are delighted to offer fresh British cherries as part of our soft fruit range for the second year. “Our commitment to quality and freshness is reflected in every batch, and we are excited that customers and consumers alike will be able to enjoy them all for all occasions this season.”

Iain Furness, managing director of The French Garden, Driscoll's wholesale partner which sells the company's cherries and berries at New Covent Garden market, said: "It is encouraging to see Driscoll's renewing its focus on the UK wholesale markets. . They are working with us exclusively on NCGM.

They have seen that we have invested in our new facilities here and that we are committed to this market and our partners. We can be more confident in bringing suppliers and customers to market in our new environment, and it is a great environment to showcase a leading brand like Driscoll's to our customers.

«We will work with them to promote the brand and they will recommend people to come to the market to buy their berries and cherries. “It’s very early days but if they are attracting people to us it can only be good news for the market,” Iain said.