It’s time for some world famous strawberries and cream (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
It’s 10.30am but it’s not too early for strawberries and cream is it? Definitely not, if it’s the Wimbledon tennis championships supreme vintage. So here I am, just minutes after the gates have opened and yes I am excited about the tennis but this Wimbledon gastronomic experience is also firmly on my bucket list.
These are not just any strawberries. They are Wimbledon strawberries and a whole lot effort goes into making them just perfect for consumption by 40,000 fans each day at SW19.
More of that technical detail later. But for now I am racing through the crowds who are headed for the courts to watch their tennis heroes while I am zeroing in a public restaurant destination next to number one court.
Top women’s seed Aryna Sabalenka will be on there soon but I whizz past oblivious and head for the food queue.
To my delight there isn’t much of a queue, probably as it’s 10.30am and its probably a bit early for strawberries and cream.
One of the most appealing signs at Wimbledon (Image: Geoff Maynard)
The tap and go system in operation for Wimbledon food (Image: Geoff Maynard)
So I head straight to the front to be greeted by a couple of Wimbledon’s brilliant and cheery helpers.
I am greeted by an electronic barrier and I gain entry to the food emporium by swiping my debit card. This exceedingly clever system means you can go in, grab your food quickly and walk out with it being debited to your card.
This could obviously be quite dangerous to your pocket if you lose a bit of self-control over food.
But I stay, grab one punnet of strawberries and cream, and head for the exit. I sail through as the exit barrier lets me through, and I have to go back and ask how much I had been billed.
Wimbledon is the largest single annual sporting catering operation in Europe with food and drink provided by Compass Group UK.
Here are some key facts on consumption at last year’s championships. Hungry guests got through:
13,241 litres of dairy cream.
More than 50 tonnes of Kentish strawberries.
242,892 cups of tea and coffee.
314,082 glasses of Pimm’s.
72,000 scones.
25,000 bottles of champagne.
55 kitchens across the site.
Staff serve up 281,151 hot meals.
3,000 food and drink team staff.
292 chefs on site.
All drinks are served in reusable cups to encourage reuse. A £1 deposit is applied to the purchase of a first drink. Guests are given the option to redeem this deposit or place their cup in a charity return point – in doing so donating the entire deposit to The Wimbledon Foundation.
The team buy only free-range eggs, use only Fairtrade sugar, and are committed to the Sustainable Fish Cities campaign, with all fish andcseafood served at The Championships receiving a MSC rating
of between 1-3.
The championships partners with food rescue organisation City Harvest continues. It looks to ensure food is not wasted and instead redistributed locally. They make donations seasonally to local food banks within the community.
I am amazed to be told that my 6 or 7 prime strawbs and cream have only set me back £2.70! It sounds like a bargain to me and that’s before I even have started tucking in.
I head outside delighted with my £2.70 aquisition and sit down at a vacant table under an umbrella to get tasting. It’s 32C here and I am wilting so it’s time for a strawberry boost.
My first strawb is plucked from the punnet having been doused in lashings of cream.
I bite into the strawberry and can report the £2.70 price tag is a bargain. The strawberries are ripened to perfection and each bite gives a reassuring crunch of joy on the teeth. They are sweet and satisfying and mixed with some good old cream they go down a real treat.
Are they the best strawberries I have ever had? Yes, probably. Am I going to eat some more? Yes, I am!
This sort of strawberry perfection does not come about by chance of course.
Wimbledon prides itself on its quality food and drink and during last year’s championships fans got through more than 50 tonnes of these Kentish strawberries – that’s about 251,405 portions and my efforts have already clocked up two for this year.
To ensure the utmost freshness, the Grade 1 English strawberries are handpicked from sunrise 31 miles away in Mereworth, Kent.
They are then delivered to the Club for inspection and hulling (the green bits are taken off) by 9am.
The majority are then enjoyed by the guests on the same day, just hours after being picked.
Any that are not served are frozen and then made into a jam after the Championships.
The man in charge of this strawberry genius is Joe Furber, Wimbledon’s food and drinks operations manager, who heads up a 3,000 strong staff team.
“There’ s a lot of quality checks when they come in and then quality checks again per unit as they’re being distributed,”he explains. “If you find a bad one, it’s unlucky but out it goes.”
And this is a man who is delighted with his Wimbledon crop this year.
He tells me “it’s been a very good year for strawberries because of the good weather now and some rain this spring.
“The strawberries are having a really good summer and they are probably some of the best we have had.
“I would certainly say that this year is a bumper year for them.”
I can certainly concur with that. The Wimbledon strawberries this year are blooming marvellous.
Strawberries and cream time at Wimbledon (Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
Wimbledon has a wide range of public dining facilities
Stunning Wimbledon is full of food and drink options (Image: Geoff Maynard)
Tea Lawn
– The Wingfield – championing seasonal British produce, the restaurant offers a sit-down dining experience for ticket holders with views across the Tea Lawn.
– Tea Lawn – the historic Tea Lawn
includes the famous Wimbledon Strawberries & Cream, available with dairy or plant-based cream, the Sausage Grill and the Tea Lawn Bar.
– Tea Lawn Larder & Long Bar – serving a range of draft beers, spirits and wine, Long Bar is situated next to the Tea Lawn Larder, offering hot/soft drinks, sandwiches/salads, strawberries and freshly prepared hot wraps.
Centenary Garden
– Café Pergola – sit outside enjoying the sunshine or take a seat beneath the beautiful flower art installation on the ceiling. Café Pergola offers a wide ranging menu, including a number of cold and hot plates in addition to the ever-popular rotisserie.
– Centenary Seafood Bar –
introduced in 2022, the Centenary Seafood Bar, situated on the top floor of The Centenary, offers a variety
of elegant cold seafood dishes,
with impressive views across the Southern courts.
– Centenary Brasserie – located on the ground floor of The Centenary, also introduced in 2022, the Centenary Brasserie offers sit down table service, with a seasonal menu in a relaxed brasserie environment.
Walled Garden, Parkside & The Hill
- Walled Garden Larder – a variety of hot food concepts to takeaway and enjoy, including British, World and Grill. You can also find a Larder, serving Wimbledon strawberries, sandwiches, salads and hot/ soft drinks within each food market to ensure there is something to suit every taste. Each food market also has a bar serving a range of draft beers, spirits and wines.
- – As we seek to evolve our guest experience, we are introducing new technology in the Walled Garden Larder which removes the need to visit a till when purchasing food and drink items. For 2025, guests will tap their card upon entry to the store, select their items, then leave the Larder with the charge removed from their card as they depart. This innovation ensures guests spend less time queuing and more time enjoying
the tennis.
- – The Hill – located at the bottom of the famous Hill, is a coffee bar, larder and bar. Situated on The Hill is Pimm’s on The Hill and Ice Cream on The Hill, with the latter being a scooping parlour, offering ice-cream in a variety of flavours to be enjoyed in the sunshine.
- – Parkside Food Market – a food market serving traditional fish & chips, world cuisine and grill. The market additionally features a bar and Larder, offering light refreshments such as strawberries & cream, sandwiches, salads and hot/soft drinks.
- – The Cavendish – Reimagined for 2025, The Cavendish offers a quick tea or coffee, a relaxed lunch as well as an afternoon sweet treat. Familiar classics, simply served to showcase the best of the British Isles, ideally located in No.1 Court
Southern Village
- Southern Village Larder – serving coffees and pastries in the morning as well as a variety of sandwiches, salads and hot/ cold drinks.
- – Southern Village Pizzeria – situated next to the Southern Village Bar, serving hand-stretched, stone baked pizzas
for takeaway or to enjoy seated in the Southern Village area.Walled Garden Food Marke
