Apple growers AC Goatham & Son has upped its capacity ahead of harvesting with an armada of new forklift trucks having replanting over two million new fruit trees.
One of Britain's largest topfruit growers, AC Goatham has taken on 58 new vehicles in total, sourcing 26 brand new forklifts from European makers Cesab and five new forklifts from fellow Kent-based manufacturer Prins Forklifts UK.
The high-tech vehicles can be powered by either solar, gas or diesel depending on whether they are used inside or outside in the orchards.
Steve Everard, director at AC Goatham & Son said: “We are working hard to speed up many of our processes across the business. These new machines will help enable the business to facilitate the faster transport of fruit from the trees to cold storage and during the busy harvest period we need reliable vehicles.
'Having a local company like Prins who can come out quickly to deal with any service issues is vital, to ensure the smooth running of our business at its busiest time. This is a step closer for us in finding more automated solutions within our business and we have worked closely with Prins to achieve this.”
All of the machines have been built to order atCesabfactories in Sweden, France and Italy and then brought to the UK to be customised byPrinsto meet the requirements of AC Goatham & Son.
Mark Dorman, managing director of Prins Forklifts UK, added:“We are very grateful to AC Goatham & Son for this order and to be able to supply our largest fleet to date. We work hard to support all of our clients and aim to work in partnership with them. We will also have a workshop at Flanders Farm, HQ of AC Goatham & Son, so we can keep the vehicles in full working order during the very busy harvest period and support them throughout the year with routine maintenance.”
