Marking the busiest season for the UK pea industry, Great British Pea Week celebrates the versatile vegetable and its hard-working farmers who bring them to our plates.
An annual celebration that champions the UK pea industry, whose farmers work around the clock each summer to deliver frozen peas to the nation, Great British Pea Week gives the UK a reason to celebrate the little green nutritional wonders during the busy pea harvesting period, inspiring consumers to get creative in the kitchen and ensure peas are their vegetable of choice for everyday cooking.
What is Great British Pea Week?
Great British Pea Week aims to increase awareness and understanding of the provenance and heritage of peas, giving British consumers a reason to celebrate the little green balls of joy during harvesting time.
The annual event was launched by the Yes Peas! Campaign to recognise the industry-wide effort made by experts across the pea vining sector, which produces 2 billion portions of peas for the UK market and beyond each year.
Great British Pea Week champions the 700 pea farmers around the country, who work within 16 different grower groups to ensure that Great Britain remains the largest producer and consumer of frozen peas in Europe, maintaining the country’s impressive track record of being 90% self-sufficient in pea production.
The harvesting process, which lasts an average of eight weeks, is a huge operation which takes place between June through to August, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Harvesting machines, known as pea viners, work in unison to harvest, shell and transport the peas from field to frozen as quickly as possible, with the majority in just 150 minutes, ensuring the freshness and nutrients of each pea is locked in.
With the average Brit consuming around 9,000 peas a year, the pea harvest is critical in ensuring produce makes it to supermarket shelves to sustain the demand for the full year, with the British pea industry harvesting 160,000 tonnes of frozen peas each year.
When is Great British Pea Week?
Great British Pea Week is observed on the first week of July each year. In 2024, Great British Pea Week will be celebrated from the 1st-7th of July, marking the busiest season for the UK pea industry and encouraging the nation to incorporate peas into their everyday meals.
How to participate in Great British Pea Week
Get cooking! Peas are a versatile vegetable and can be added into a variety of different dishes, from being spread on toast, thrown into a risotto or pasta, popped in a tasty soup or casserole- the choices are endless!
Relevant hashtags
When sharing your support for Great British Pea Week and celebrating all things peas on social media, consider using these relevant hashtags:
