Why do we eat strawberries at Wimbledon?

With Wimbledon starting soon, we’ve got strawberries and cream on our minds!

Did you know the Wimbledon tournament manages to get through more than 23 tonnes of strawberries and 7,000 litres of cream every year? That’s a serious amount of strawberries and cream! But why do we snack on strawberries whilst watching the tennis?

There’s no definitive answer as to what started this odd tradition but we think the most likely explanation is timing. Wimbledon happens during the peak of the British Strawberry season which occurs in June and July.

The tradition was adopted early in Wimbledon’s history, partly in response to the fashionability of strawberries in 19th-century London. After all, at the time they were available for only a few weeks a year — weeks that happened to coincide with a tennis tournament attended by the city’s upper classes. In an age before refrigeration, seasonal strawberries were a luxury, and eating them in public was a sign of prosperity.

These days, thanks to modern developments, we can enjoy strawberries for a lot longer and if you know our menus, you’ll know we’re guilty of putting strawberries in a lot of our desserts! But why not? They’re delicious and healthy. (When they’re not smothered in cream…)