British raspberries are measuring up to 50% sweeter than usual according to growers, after a warm spell followed cooler spring temperatures.
The raspberries this season are testing at sugar levels of 11 to 12 on the Brix scale, compared with average readings of around eight, the biggest jump growers have seen in years.
The Brix scale measures the approximate sugar content of a fruit or fruit juice, with a higher Brix reading generally indicating a sweeter, more flavourful, and riper fruit.
Growers are attributing the standout quality of this season’s raspberries to ideal growing conditions. The prolonged cold spring ensured that the berries were not unnecessarily stressed by the heat, and allowed them to flourish and develop healthy leaf canopies and root systems.
When the warmer weather finally arrived, it came at the ideal time, ripening the fruit slowly and evenly, turning the berries a deep red and with a sweeter flavour profile, while keeping the sharp tang that characterises raspberries.
The latest British raspberry news comes after a record-breaking May Bank Holiday for British strawberry sales, with over 450 million British strawberries sold over the May Bank Holiday week. Growers are saying the same weather has now delivered an exceptional raspberry crop.
Nick Marston, Chair of British Berry Growers, says: “The arrival of the British raspberry season is always a welcome moment and this year, with careful management, our growers have a wonderful crop developing.
“Strawberries may have grabbed the headlines earlier in the season, but now it’s raspberries’ turn. The same favourable growing conditions have produced an exceptional crop, with fantastic sweetness, flavour and quality.
“Our growers are harvesting fruit of exceptional quality and flavour. It seems Britain’s berry summer is only getting sweeter.”
The cooler conditions followed a spring characterised by dry weather, sunny intervals and chilly overnight temperatures, with one of the driest Aprils in years, according to recent analysis from the Met Office1.
The experts also reported that the UK also experienced unusually warm nights in May, alongside the exceptional and occasionally record-breaking daytime heat2, which also supported healthy fruit growth.
Lochy Porter, co-founder at Angus Soft Fruits, says: “The raspberries are something very special this year. I’ve been growing them for 35 years, and I’ve rarely seen Brix readings like this.
“The cool spring set the plants up perfectly, then the sunshine came at exactly the right time. You can taste it straight off the raspberry cane.”
While people often associate berry growing with the south of England, the fertile soil, reliable rainfall and longer daylight hours mean Scotland is one of the UK’s soft-fruit powerhouses, producing millions of strawberries and raspberries each year.
George Beedell, Head of Business Development at WB Chambers in Kent, added: “The slow start back in May is the secret here; it let the sugars really develop, so the berries are coming off the cane deliciously sweet this year.
“Then the sun arrived at just the right moment for a record-breaking bank holiday weekend. We’ve had warm days and mild nights, and that’s exactly what a raspberry wants. They’ve had time to develop more too, so they’re bigger than usual as well as sweeter. They’re eating beautifully right now; I’d call it a vintage year.”
Raspberry sales have experienced a spectacular surge, with year-over-year increases exceeding 33% at major UK retailers like Sainsbury’s, Lidl, and Ocado in 2025.
This uplift is in part attributed to the growing trend of ‘fibremaxxing’ – people looking to boost their daily fibre intake – as raspberries are considered one of the highest whole-food sources of dietary fibre.