As the warmer months reach their peak, so too does the annual celebration of peas as the community of British pea growers and freezers commences the pea harvest. Now in its sixth year, Great British Pea Week (5th – 11th July 2021) is dedicated to raising awareness of the harvest and giving consumers the opportunity to celebrate the humble pea, as well as inspiring shoppers to use peas in their everyday cooking.
This week of celebration was created by the Yes Peas! campaign to commend the hard work made by experts across the pea vining sector during its busiest period as they continue to produce two billion portions of peas for the UK market each year. During the six-week British harvest, farmers work around the clock, seven days a week using viners to harvest, shell and transport the peas from field to frozen as quickly as possible – with many making it to the factory and through the freezing process in under two and a half hours.
The speediest freezing lines process peas in only 25 minutes and at the peak, the UK’s pea freezers can process up to 45 tonnes an hour!
The UK’s Eastern Seaboard boasts a maritime climate and provides the perfect soil and planting conditions for the wide-spread production of peas that can be distributed to homes across the country. There are approximately 700 pea farmers around the country, working within 18 different grower groups.
With the average Brit consuming around 9,000 peas a year, the process is critical to ensuring produce makes it to supermarket shelves to sustain the demand for the full year. Annually, the British pea industry harvests 160,000 tonnes of frozen peas.
Seed producers, growers and harvesting machinery companies remain united in the goal to ensure that Great Britain remains the largest producer and consumer of frozen peas in Europe and maintains its reputation for being 90% self-sufficient in pea production.
Coral Russell, Crop Associations Manager at the British Growers Association, which runs the Yes Peas! campaign, explains: “British farmers are proudly recognised for their expertise when it comes to producing high quality peas, with the peas on our plate being the culmination of over four months’ hard work. Britain is 90% self-sufficient in pea production, meaning nearly all peas in supermarket freezers going into your trolley or online order are most likely grown by British farmers on a British farm, resulting in the superior quality and flavour which we know and love.”
For recipe inspiration and more information about Great British Pea Week or the Yes Peas! campaign, please visit www.peas.org.
