Angus Soft Fruits (ASF) has hit back at a mischievous report published in The Ecologist this week that alleged the company was misleading consumers with its claims about its Good Natured Fruit brand.
The Ecologist claimed to have carried out an investigation which showed that the company was at the “centre of a pesticide controversy”.
The magazine’s main beef is that herbicides are used during the life-cycle of the soft-fruit plants ASF sources to grow its pesticide-free fruit.
Lochy Porter, md of ASF, is surprised at the attack. He said: “This seems to have come out of nowhere. We have just been going about our business. We have a very strict protocol and are very proud of what we are achieving and that we are taking pesticides out of production. The last thing we would want to do is mislead the consumer and we have only had very positive feedback from our customers and consumers up to now.”
The Ecologist article criticised ASF for making “boasts” on its website in comparison to organic produce, but Porter said: “The fact is we are pesticide-free in our fruit production…We want to communicate with consumers what we are trying to do and if things need to be changed on our website, we are happy to do that in line with consumers’ changing demands. We have had no negative comment from consumers.”
