Sainsbury's seals British salad deals amid drought fears
Sainsburyaposs has signed new 10-year partnerships with British producers Thanet Earth and Evesham Vale Growers to increase UK-grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The deals aim to keep salad staples on shelves as drought fears and extreme weather hit crops imported from warmer regions, after past shortages forced supermarket purchase limits. Shoppers tracking produce tech and supply resilience can follow more coverage in our Future Tech & AI Wonders hub.
Key Takeaways
- Sainsbury's signed 10-year deals with Thanet Earth and Evesham Vale Growers.
- British tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers will grow in the salad range.
- Thanet Earth's Kent glasshouses aim to supply British cucumbers in winter for the first time.
- A Taste the Difference British Salad Selection 800g box is due this summer.
- The move follows 2023 rationing and fresh drought and heat pressure on imports.
What exactly has Sainsbury's agreed with British growers?
The UK's second-biggest supermarket has locked in decade-long partnerships with Thanet Earth and Evesham Vale Growers. According to The Independent, the contracts are meant to keep a steady stock of salad essentials.
The Grocer reports the agreements are among the longest in the industry and sit within Sainsbury's wider pledge to invest more than £5bn in long-term deals with over 2,400 British and Irish farms.
Why does this matter for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers?
Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers have been hit hard by weather shocks before. In early 2023, UK chains limited how many packs of those items, plus lettuce and salad bags, customers could buy after bad weather and transport problems across Europe and north Africa.
Sainsbury's says extreme weather in warmer growing regions shows retailers must rethink supply resilience. The Grocer also noted a recent Times report of a cucumber shortage warning linked to extreme heat hitting growers in Spain and Morocco.
Hannah O'Reilly, Sainsbury's category director of produce, said investing in British production and giving growers long-term certainty helps build a stronger chain in a category hit by weather-based shocks in recent years.
How will glasshouse tech keep British cucumbers on shelves in winter?
Sainsbury's hopes the Thanet Earth deal will extend British cucumber availability beyond summer into winter for the first time. Thanet Earth in Kent is the UK's largest single-site glasshouse complex.
There, supplementary lighting, heat and CO2 are managed so cucumber plants keep growing through the darkest months. Thanet Earth technical director Rob James said the long-term link with Sainsbury's lets the grower plan ahead with more certainty and fund winter cucumber technology.
Benefits should reach shelves as early as this summer with the Taste the Difference British Salad Selection 800g box. Taste the Difference tomatoes generated more than £120m in sales in 2025, The Grocer reported, while Evesham Vale Growers director Paul Faulkner said long-term certainty lets the firm invest and extend British tomato availability.