ONE OF Britain’s leading tomato experts and Vale of Evesham grower David Shepherd is predicting a bumper crop this year thanks to last winter’s record sunlight hours.

David, who farms at Fladbury near Pershore, supplies Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain Morrisons and grows 10 different varieties. At peak season his farm will harvest 5.6 million tomatoes a week.

He says: “Our tomatoes are grown in glasshouses, so temperature doesn’t really affect our harvest as we can create heat ourselves – the biggest game changer is daylight.

“We enjoyed longer periods of natural light last winter, so our plants are harvesting at a much faster rate. Tomato fans are truly in for a treat this year.

“We’ve got the greatest selection of tomatoes we’ve ever had, so expect to see more varieties on supermarket shelves than usual.”

According to Morrisons, Britain enjoyed a record 196 hours of sunlight last winter and the Met Office reported the warmest day in April for four years when it reached 25C.

This combined with innovative growing methods – including the use of LED lights – means the tomato growers have an early, bumper crop.

He says: “Tomatoes are always popular regardless of the weather, but as soon as the sun comes out it’s no surprise that people start reaching for the salad staples. When it’s sunny, sales soar by around 15% - we can sell as many as 200,000 more tomatoes than we do on an average week.

“They may not seem like a new craze, but there’s definitely been a shift in the type of tomatoes we’re opting for. Over the past few years, our taste in tomatoes has definitely become sweeter.

“Smaller varieties that offer a more intense flavour have become increasingly popular, particularly smaller snacking types like Piccolo and Sunstream. Baby plum tomatoes are now our bestselling type by some way.

“During the barbecue and picnic season tomatoes are always in high demand, so with two Bank Holidays in May and barbecues going hand in hand, this is always a busy month for us – if not one of the busiest of the entire year.”

David’s Top Tomato Facts

1. Tomatoes in all their forms count towards your Five a Day, whether fresh, tinned, dried or puréed.

2. Fresh tomatoes, even when cooked, are an abundant source of vitamin C, which has been scientifically proved to benefit the immune system

3. Because the tomato has seeds and grows from a flowering plant, botanically it is classed as a fruit not a vegetable

4. There are more than 7,500 tomato varieties grown around the world

5. The scientific term for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which means “wolf peach”