Want to be World Watercress Eating Champ?

This year the World Watercress Eating competition has gone virtual and we are calling on everyone to take part for a chance to win great prizes, as well as fame and glory of course!

To enter all you have to do is:

• Grab a bag of watercress, available from Tesco (currently on offer!) , Asda, Waitrose, Co-op, Morrisons or M&S

• Eat your watercress in the fastest time possible (you are allowed water to help with this)

• Send us your video and state your time: this can be on our Facebook post or through Twitter, Instagram, email info@thewatercresscompany.com or post on your own feed using #kingofthegreens

• Wait for the results, announced on the 25th of May

Prizes

Fastest time -£150 food hamper from our friends at the Brace of Butchers in Poundbury, Dorset.

Funniest video- £50 hamper

Runners up- 25 x goodie bags up for grabs

Checkout the video we made with the current champ below:

The Alresford Watercress Festival on 17 May has been postponed to September but Glenn Walsh, reigning World Watercress Eating Champion, won’t let that stand in the way of defending his title as he and The Watercress Company take the contest online.

Used to performing in front of the 18,000 strong crowd that visits the annual festival to celebrate the start of the UK watercress season, this year, Glenn stood alone in a watercress bed, spurred on – at a distance – by the regular championship commentator, Paul Reece.

Glenn, a fencer from Alresford in Hampshire, has reigned supreme for the last nine years and is determined not to let his crown slip so he has laid down the gauntlet and challenged the nation.   Last year his time to eat 85g of watercress was just 42 seconds but he’s been faster; in 2017 he took a mere 37.6 seconds!

Glenn explained: “I’m from a litter of five and if you left your hand on the table for too long at mealtimes, it was gone.  Eating fast was a necessity!  It’s great to have the chance to widen the field and get some more competition involved with the World Watercress Eating Championships.”

Another winning year for Glenn!

Encouraged by The Watercress Company’s Managing Director, Tom Amery, Glenn ate the 85g of watercress in as fast a time as he could,assisted by a bottle of Watercress Warrior from Cerne Abbas Brewery, before his efforts were posted on https://www.facebook.com/LoveWatercress/  where anyone can do the same and be a contender for the World Watercress Eating Champion crown.

Tom explains: “The World Watercress Eating Championships are usually the grand finale for the Alresford Watercress Festival with people lining up to take part.  It’s something that all the festival goers look forward to and so after the Festival was postponed, we came up with this way to at least salvage this popular element.  It’s tough – I know, I’ve tried it. Been up against Glenn and lost! 

More hopefuls take #kingofthegreens , watercress

“But we thought it could be a bit of fun for everyone, even if they just competed against those they’re in lockdown with.   All you need to do to enter is get an 85g bag of watercress when you’re doing your shop – Tesco is good and just 97p from 12 May - and video yourself eating the watercress. Simply upload your video to the Love Watercress Instagram or the FB event and nominate 5 of your pals to take part. Use the hashtag #kingofthegreens.”

Tom Amery explains why this year the competition is being done virtually

There are prizes too.   The person with the best time will win the King of the Greens 2020 T-shirt plus a hamper full of mouth-watering goodies worth a whopping £150 donated by Brace of Butchers in Dorset who were judged the UK’s Best Butchers at this year’s Farm Shop & Deli Awards.  The funniest video will win a Hamper of £50 – top tips: think about location, style and dress – the more outrageous the better!

Finally, The Watercress Company will be giving away 25 goodie bags to runners up judged to have made the greatest effort.

Entries will be accepted until Monday 25 May when the winners will be announced.

Tom again: “Although this is a bit of fun, if you haven’t tried watercress before, it’s perhaps a tough way to be introduced to it.  Eaten in a calmer way in a sandwich, salad, smoothie or soup it’s delicious and one of the healthiest vegetables you could eat, packed full of vitamins and nutrients to help you stay fit and healthy.”

See just how good for you it is, and get inspired by some tempting recipe ideas here.

All that remains to be said is: “Good Luck, all you would be Watercress Eating Champions!”