Thorvald Robots Now Power 20% of UK Strawberry Production
Saga Robotics has completed its largest deployment season to date, with its Thorvald robotic platform now operating across one-fifth of the UK’s tabletop strawberry sector and nearly 1,300 acres of vineyards in California. Across both regions, more than 150 robots ran at 97% uptime, covering 200,000 autonomous kilometers—equivalent to circling the Earth five times.
Thorvald provides UV-C fungal control, reducing reliance on chemical treatments, while also delivering high-resolution crop data to help growers boost yield, reduce labor costs, and improve sustainability. Saga’s research team has refined precision UV-C dosing, ensuring fungal suppression without harming plant performance. In 2025 alone, Thorvald robots completed over 80,000 operational hours.
Saga Robotics currently treats about 20% of the UK tabletop strawberries and next year aims to treat about 30%. Image credit: Saga Robotics
Building on strong performance, Saga is expanding its vineyard coverage in California and releasing a new field-ready model designed for uneven terrain. The company is also rolling out cluster-counting and fruit-mapping data services, which replace manual scouting with row-level analytics. With customers continuing to scale deployments, Saga aims to reach 30% of the UK tabletop strawberry sector in 2026, while maintaining a focus on service quality and responsible growth.
This season, Saga Robotics estimates it eliminated 133 tonnes of fungicides, prevented 4,450 tonnes of CO₂ emissions, and removed 85,200 hours of worker chemical exposure—demonstrating the environmental and operational value of autonomous field robotics in commercial agriculture.
