For many years the UK apple industry has been in steady decline but over the last 2 years we have seen things stabilise and there is now a renewed focus on locally grown produce and its provenance. Our customers are now very interested in where there produce is grown and how it impacts on the environment and local communities. With this in mind we have implemented a growing programme across the UK. With modern growing techniques we believe that it is possible to grow and make a sustainable profit for the grower which alleviates the pressures that come from marketing the apples in to the ‘major multiples’.

Over the next 5 years we intend to increase our contract grown area to 1,500 hectares of mixed variety apples which will increase the total UK tonnage by 20%. The other impact this has is that it reduces the carbon emissions by 25% for every 40 hectares grown and in effect makes apple growing a carbon negative industry. We have the experience, skills and knowledge to help expand existing orchards and by working collectively we can help reduce costs and improve profit.

The system we prefer is the ‘trellis system’, similar to that used in Northern Europe, where planting density is between 2 and 3,500 trees/ hectare. In our experience the average cropping level should be 50T/ hectare and have seen yields as high as 70Tonnes.

In addition to this we are assisting growers to build energy efficient stores on their production sites which in turn increases the value of the land, return on investment and helps us work towards becoming a carbon neutral business – we hope to achieve this by 2010.

To discuss in more detail please call Mark Grinsted on +44 (0) 7979 501879