British Sugar is the UK's largest grower of classic round salad tomatoes. The glasshouse at Cornerways Nursery covers an area of 11 hectares and produces over 70 million 'eco-friendly' tomatoes annually, between April and November.
 
All the produce is packed on-site in a modern packhouse, minimising handling and transport and allowing produce to be despatched for supermarket shelves less than 12 hours after being picked.

Over 5000 bumblebees, living in 100 bee hives, pollinate the crop and are part of the nursery's integrated approach to crop management using natural agents and predators in preference to agro-chemicals.

Cornerways Nursery benefits from its location close to the Wissington sugar factory. More than seventy miles of piping carry hot water from the factory's combined heat and power (CHP) plant to the glasshouse to maintain the balmy temperatures which suit tomato plants. This hot water would otherwise be destined for cooling towers, so the scheme ensures that the heat is used productively.

A major benefit is the productive use of waste carbon dioxide.  Tomatoes use a large volume of the gas in photosynthesis so at Cornerways, carbon dioxide produced as a by-product from the CHP boiler is now pumped into the enormous glasshouse rather than vented to the atmosphere as waste emissions. Water used primarily to wash the sugar beet delivered to the factory carries vital nutrients from Norfolk's soils and is re-used to irrigate the tomato plants.

For more information about British tomatoes go to www.britishtomatoes.co.uk