Almost 10 million sweetcorn cobs grown on the Isle of Wight have been transported to the mainland this Summer, despite hot and dry weather creating challenging conditions for growers.
Wightlink transported almost 220 loads from Barfoots Farm in Arreton to the company’s processing and distribution centre in West Sussex, from where the produce is distributed to supermarkets across Britain.
The Isle of Wight’s sunshine and sheltered growing conditions help produce sweetcorn between July and October, but a lack of rainfall caused difficulties this year.
Hot weather also meant the harvest was brought forward by around 2 weeks, putting additional pressure on the operation to move the crop while keeping it fresh.
Kirstie Higgins-Day, Wightlink’s Head of Business Development, has said:
“Seeing so much Isle of Wight-grown sweetcorn heading to the mainland is a real celebration of local agriculture.
“We’re delighted to be part of the journey from farm to fork.”
Bob Morris, Manager of Barfoots’ Isle of Wight Farm, praised the ferry operator for helping to move almost 220 trailers in a relatively short period.
He said:
“In order for our produce to stay fresh for customers, we need to minimise transport time so that it can reach supermarket shelves as quickly as possible.
“Wightlink were really good at managing our lorry bookings, so trailers of fresh corn weren’t left sitting in the terminals in the heat.”
