Wimbledon Facts

About 1,800 FMC catering staff are required to operate the catering outlets during The Championships and the quantity of food and drink served by them during the fortnight is enormous:

300,000 cups of tea and coffee
250,000 bottles of water
190,000 sandwiches
150,000 bath buns, scones, pasties and doughnuts
150,000 glasses of Pimm's
135,000 ice creams
130,000 lunches are served
100,000 pints of draught beer and lager
60,000 Dutchees
30,000 meals for FMC's own staff.
30,000 portions of fish and chips
30,000 litres of milk
28,000 kilos of English strawberries
23,000 bananas
22,000 slices of pizza
17,000 bottles of champagne
7,000 litres of dairy cream

Wimbledon is synonymous with strawberries. The price of the traditional strawberries and cream has changed little over the last ten years, with a portion (minimum of 10 strawberries) fluctuating between £2.00 and £2.50. To ensure the utmost freshness, the Grade 1 strawberries from LEAF-registered farms in Kent, are picked the day before and arrive at Wimbledon at 5.30a.m prior to being inspected and hulled.

Here is some strawberry trivia to get you in the mood for the sweetest, succulent strawberries we will be serving this summer:

Last year, FMC served 23 tonnes of strawberries, which amounts to over 2 million individual berries
When laid end-to-end, these berries would stretch almost 60km (37 miles), i.e. from Wimbledon to Reading
Strawberries like growing in relatively hardy conditions. They are mostly found in the wild in woodlands, adjacent to seashores or in rock screes at cool altitudes
They have adapted to a wide range of climates and can grow from northerly latitudes like Sweden to the middle of Africa
Each seed is genetically different from its neighbour
It takes approximately thirty days from being a flower to become a ripe fruit
Strawberries are very nutritious and contain:
- nearly 5 times as much vitamin C as blackberries
- twice the amount of vitamin C as grapefruit, mangos, nectarines or redcurrants
- they are also high in phosphates and potassium
- they are low in fat and rich in antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer
- 150g of strawberries contain only 45 calories, so those who indulge don't bulge!
William Butler said 'Doubtless God could have made a better berry but doubtless God never did'. We couldn't have put it better ourselves.

Finally, freeze-dried strawberries were one of the early foods provided by NASA to feed astronauts so they are, quite literally, an out of this world experience!