How Vodafone IoT technology is serving up the perfect strawberry this Wimbledon

Hugh Lowe Farms has supplied all the strawberries to Wimbledon for nearly 30 years. Each year, more than 30 tons of strawberries are consumed by tennis fans at the event, so Hugh Lowe Farms’ operations must be as efficient as possible to meet the demand.

Vodafone’s IoT technology helps Hugh Lowe Farms grow the best quality crop and be as efficient as possible, ensuring they can meet the demand for over 1.5 million strawberries enjoyed each year by spectators, with more than 10,000 liters of fresh cream.

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.

The strawberries need to arrive at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in the best possible condition, so Vodafone has also provided Hugh Lowe Farms with 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.

“Wimbledon wouldn’t be Wimbledon without strawberries!" said Nick Gliddon, Business Director, Vodafone UK. "And we’re excited to show the power of our technology to make a huge operation like this more efficient and reduce the impact on the environment.

“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.”

“We are excited to be working with Vodafone and their support is helping us optimize the growing conditions of our strawberries," added Marion Regan of Hugh Lowe Farms. "Now, we’re using Vodafone’s cutting-edge technology to be able to deliver the best-ever quality strawberries, all produced in a more sustainable way, for fans to enjoy.”

The deployment of new IoT technology and software such as MYFARMWEB can have a dramatic impact on operational efficiencies, as well as offering greater insight to reduce carbon emissions. The MYFARMWEB platform collects farm data to support decision making for better soil and crop health, effective water use, and precision fertilizer and pesticide application. This helps improve farm productivity and optimizes farming practices, to help reduce greenhouse gases. Vodafone estimates that the introduction of IoT technology could help the agriculture industries save 2.4-4.8 million tons of CO2e annually.