First ever British baked beans harvested at Lincolnshire farm

A Lincolnshire farmer could be about to make history with the first ever harvest of British baked beans.

Traditionally haricot beans have been imported to produce the classic side dish sourced from abroad because of the specific climate and soil conditions need to grow them.

But now new farming technology has helped develop a new variety which is being grown in the UK on Andrew Ward's farm.

He said:"We have struggled in the past with the varieties that have been available to us and those varieties have come from other countries where the climate's different to ours.

"There were attempts at getting a British bean growing that didn't mature and didn't happen and then a few years ago Warwick University started to really get to grips with these beans and see why they weren't working and what needed to be done.

"So they did some more breeding and we eventually got this bean called the capulet bean which will be used to make baked beans we hope."

The UK consumes 2 million tins of beans every day which have to be flown in from Canada, America and China. So, if successful the project which has taken 12 years to develop could bring big benefits to farming and the environment.

"Every tin of those beans is imported. We need to grow more home grown food. This has to be a winner because the mileage involved in getting those beans into this country is huge," said Mr Ward.

The seeds at the farm are the only ones in the whole of the UK so as many as possible need to be harvested this year to ensure a yield in the future.

Mr Ward added:"What we are harvesting here will make next years crop. At the same time we need some of that to go into canning to see if it will actually make baked beans if mixed with tomato sauce."