- Morrisons to supply vegetable instruments for LVO summer concert tour -
- From beet-hoven to tune-ips, Morrisons produce is handcrafted into percussion and wind instruments for root-veg rhythms -
Morrisons is proud to announce it is the official fresh vegetable provider to the London Vegetable Orchestra (LVO) for the ensemble’s summer tour kicking off at the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival on 1st July.
Founded over a decade ago by classically trained musicians, the LVO performs using instruments made entirely from fresh vegetables including Morrisons carrots, courgettes, potatoes, swedes, pumpkins, and aubergines. These veg-strumentalists will serve up a medley of musical performances, blending classical pieces, West End favourites and contemporary pop hits on freshly grown recorders, trumpets, trombones, drums, and castanets, all of which are composted after use.
Morrisons will provide produce that meets particular instrument-worthy specifications – for example, carrots must be large and straight. These will be sourced from the farmers and growers that Morrisons works with all year round.
To launch the partnership, the LVO gave a live Sounds Fresh performance at Morrisons’ Market Street in Colindale where they auditioned Morrisons fresh vegetables picked straight from the shelves and which were transformed into melodious swedes and pitch-perfect carrot recorders.
The LVO summer season of concerts take place at multiple venues culminating in the Future of Food Festival on Regent Street on 21st September. Audiences can expect humour, some science and sustainability insights and an eclectic setlist featuring Greensleeves, Bob Marley, Taylor Swift and Rick Astley, all performed on instruments made from Morrisons fresh vegetables.
Damon Johnson, Head of Technical for Produce and Horticulture at Morrisons, said: “We’re thrilled to see our produce hit the high notes this summer. It’s a fantastic way to showcase some of the great quality British veg our customers enjoy that comes directly from the farmers and growers we work with all year round. We support our farmers by not only buying the best of their crop, but also any wonky or oversized fruit and veg they produce. This means we’re perfectly placed to provide delicious fresh vegetables that are also ideal for a swede solo or steady beet rhythm section.”
Patrick Johns, 1st Butternut Squash, from LVO, said: ‘From parsnip panpipes to butternut bass drums, we’ve always said vegetables make surprisingly good instruments – and now with Morrisons supplying us with top-nosh produce, we’re sounding fresher than ever. Bring on the Moz-artichokes!‘
In April 2025, the LVO was invited by King Charles III to perform at a reception at Windsor Castle where his Majesty joined the group for an impromptu performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – on a freshly carved carrot flute.
Morrisons now has over 33 seasonal lines in the Naturally Wonky or Savers range purchased by over 700,000 customers weekly. It was also the first UK retailer to create a ‘For Famers’ range of milk, cream, cheese and eggs which has now raised over £25 million and gives back directly to farmers.
In a further show of support for the nation’s growers and producers it gives all of its farmers a five per cent discount in-store and online. Its ‘Tractor Tuesdays’ initiative gives farmers 25 per cent off its café menu on a Tuesday and helps to make the farming industry more visible to customers shopping for the food they produce.
Morrisons has also championed the farming community through training and has invested in the Royal Countryside Fund’s Farm Resilience Programme, offering free business skills courses to family farms. It has also partnered with McDonald’s and the NFU to launch the first School of Sustainable Food & Farming at Harper Adams University to help address the skills gaps in agriculture and help embed new sustainable farming methods.
For more information, please visit www.morrisons.com and londonvegetableorchestra.com.