Vegetables 20 per cent larger than the average sprout are set to be served on Christmas day across the country as experts say this year's produce are the biggest for ten years.
Morrisons supermarket confirmed that its sprouts will weigh around 35g compared to the typical 15g. They’re also about 40mm wide and 45mm long, which the supermarket giant pointed out is larger than the average child's mouth.
According to Tesco sprout expert Rob Hooper, "The larger size means they’ll be easier to peel, without losing their sweet flavour, and customers will need fewer of them on their Christmas dinner plates".
“With temperatures reaching up to 10 degrees higher than usual at this time of year it has led to sprouts growing about a third larger than average,” the supermarket chain said in a press release.
Its sprouts have been grown by one of the UK’s largest suppliers of brassica, TH Clements, based in Benington, near Boston in Lincolnshire.
Clements say that the cooler weather forecast for next week is welcome as it will slow the growth and help some of the leaves drop from the stalks which makes harvesting easier.
It’s estimated as much as 80% of total British sprout sales take place in the two week Christmas and New Year period.
This year British sprout growers are set to produce 70,000 tons of sprouts – the equivalent of 50 million sprouts or 10 million individual portions or the weight of 600 London buses.
