Taken by Carlo Bazzo (2019)

With strawberries being a signature food consumed during the Wimbledon tennis tournament, mobile phone provider Vodafone have teamed up with the tournament’s official supplier to provide the perfect strawberries using ‘Internet of Things’ technology.

Hugh Lowe Farms, Wimbledon’s exclusive strawberry supplier, is using the new innovation to improve farming and the harvest that gets sent to Wimbledon. In its 30 years as the tournament’s supplier, it has annually provided Wimbledon with around 30 tonnes of strawberries for fans to enjoy. 

Risks to harvest

Strawberries are very susceptible to disease and the technology means that the farm can make better decisions on how to apply controls to protect them. This means better and more sustainable growing conditions, resulting in a better quality of strawberry.

In order to ensure they arrive at the tournament in the best condition, Vodafone are providing a new tracker which enables the farm to track the journey of the strawberries. The technology will locate each load that is going to Wimbledon and provide detailed feedback on temperature, collisions and vibrations in the packaging.

Nick Gliddon, Business Director at Vodafone UK, said: “We’re giving the Hugh Lowe Farms team invaluable new data-driven insights that make a real difference. This is a great example of how any industry can benefit from digital transformation.”

Long-standing traditions die hard

Wimbledon is annually held in the similarly-named London district annually, bringing together tennis players from all over the world. The origins of strawberries at the tournament date back to 1877, when there were only around 200 spectators in attendance, and has remained a tradition according to The Sun

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