Southampton's premier position as the sole UK port of entry for fresh produce imported from the Canary Islands has been strengthened by a new contract for a further three years.

The agreement is between Associated British Ports (ABP), owners and operators of the city's docks, Southampton Fruit Handling Ltd (SFH) and the Federations of Canary Island Producers, Fedex Las Palmas and Aceto Tenerife.

Each year, the port handles more that 80,000 tonnes of fresh produce from the Canary Islands; the tonnage consists predominantly of tomatoes destined for supermarket shelves around the UK.

Smaller volumes of peppers, avocados and cucumbers also cross the quayside during the season, which lasts from October to May.

Throughout this period two refrigerated vessels a week call at the purpose-built ABP Canary Islands Terminal in Southampton's Western Docks for discharge by specialist company Southampton Fruit Handling Ltd.

Andrew Kent, ABP Port Director for Southampton, said: "We are, of course, delighted that Fedex-Aceto has chosen to continue to use ABP's Port of Southampton.

"This new contract is an extension of a long and successful association that spans more than 15 years.''

The Canary Islands Fruit Terminal provides 14,500 square metres of cool and cold storage with a temperature range of -2C to 15C and has deep-water berths capable of accommodating two ships at the same time.

All of the produce is quality checked on arrival with a proportion being repacked and labelled before despatch directly to the shops.