Despite some adverse weather conditions earlier in the year, 2005 looks set to be a successful season for UK berries. “The strawberry season had a very late start because of some dull inclement weather in April and May,” says Nicholas Marston, managing director of KG Fruits, responsible for 45 per cent of the country’s berry production. “We were two weeks later than 2004 which was already a week later than 2003.”
Shortages in the first weeks of the season, meant supermarket promotions were also held back a week later than planned. Overall volumes will be slightly up on last year, although having increased planting acreage by 15 per cent, production will not have increased as much as expected, he says.
As in other years, with Wimbledon done and dusted, demand has fallen slightly in recent weeks. However, the market is continuing to see a 12-14 per cent increase in sales year -on-year. The most recent consumer studies indicate that 75 per cent of households buy strawberries at least once during the British season.
With only 25 per cent of shoppers buying them, raspberries still have a fair way to go. Yet this area of the market is wrapt with potential, says Marston. “Sales are increasing every year. Last year, it was 20 per cent and this year it is 25.” The supermarkets have already begun the half-price promotions on raspberries introduced last year, which are expected to continue until the second week of August. “This is a significant reduction but our production has increased by a factor of multiples,” he says. “During the season from April to June it increases by 100 times.” British Summer Fruits, the members of which grow 99 per cent of UK production volume, has reported yields of 250t for the week beginning April 25, compared with 3,700t for June 20.
Unlike strawberries, raspberries are not affected by cool, wet weather. Marston says this has meant that the production has been more spread, with some growers forcing production of early varieties
Blueberries are still very much a niche product, but given the rise in raspberry consumption, there is every chance, this ‘superfood’ could be heading the same way. “Blueberry production is still very low, and most of the blueberries bought in the UK are imported, but we are starting to plant some crops,” says Marston. “The penetration is still very low. Only 10 per cent of consumers ever buy them but the numbers are growing by around 120 per cent a year and there is a huge potential for growth as the health messages filter through.”
DEVELOPING TRENDS
Following the successful introduction of everbearers, Elsinore and Elsegarde, and the more recent early variety, Clery, berry breeder CIV has patented an additional June-bearing variety, named only this month as Antea, and previously known as A15-34. Introduced last year in the UK by Redeva, Antea has since been employed in trials by growers at The Summerfruit Company.
Given its medium blossoming season and harvest, this new variety is a potential rival to Elsanta, according to CIV representative, Johan Aelterman. With its large, firm, regular conical shape, brix level of 9.0 and perfumed taste, it has been making a good impression among certain UK retailers, he says. “It has proven suitable for different growing techniques and can grant a second summer yield.”
Adrian Wallbridge, technical director at the Summerfruit Company, agrees that Antea has the potential for good performance, although it is too soon to say exactly where in the market it might best succeed. “It is certainly showing promise, as are a number of other varieties that we have on trial,” says Wallbridge. But it will be a couple of weeks before the company draws up plans for the next season. “We make most of our decisions, once the June bearers have finished, as to which ones will go forward for further trials, and the same for everbearers, after their season later in the year. We probably will take the Antea forward, along with other un-named varieties from CIV, and from other breeders’ programmes as well as programmes of our own.”
In addition to the strawberries being grown commercially, The Summerfruit Company growers are also trialing unnamed varieties from Redeva’s breeding research and development programme. “We are now in our third year of trials, and from the initial 17,000 seedlings planted in 2002, we narrowed them down to two main groups of front runners, the “Magnificent Seven” and the “Dirty Dozen”,” says Irene Geoghegan, strawberry development manager at Redeva. “These have now been further selected to a top 10, which are now being assessed on growers’ farms, under both raised bed and tabletop cultivation methods. Growers in Kent and Scotland are trialing the selections, to ensure the strawberries are exposed to a full spectrum of weather and soil conditions.
“At the end of the 2005 season, Redeva and The Summerfruit Company will determine which selections are to be named as new Redeva varieties. These will then be made available under limited release to Summerfruit Company growers only.”
Geoghegan says the 10,000 strawberry seedlings introduced in 2003 have now been reduced to 30 and are undergoing further assessment to determine their commercial viability, while 5,000 seedlings from 2004 have been reduced to 260 and are still undergoing deselection. “All appropriate berries grown are sent to our retail customers’ technical and buying teams for sampling,” she says. “This ensures that Redeva concentrates efforts on varieties that not only grow well but are also “consumer-friendly” and taste delicious.”
Redeva has also enjoyed notable success with Suzana, a strawberry variety released as part of the Redeva Strawberry Breeding Programme, which was granted European Community Plant Variety Rights in May 2004. “Suzana, an infra-short day type, can withstand high cultivation temperatures, has a very short ripening period, up to 15 days faster than current varieties, and transports well yet provides succulent eating quality,” says Geoghegan. “Having emerged from our breeding programme, Suzana is now currently in commercial production with Summerfruit Company growers for retail multiple supply.”
While the process of breeding is both long and expensive, Wallbridge says given the size of the fresh produce market, there will always be room for varietal innovation. “If you look at the retailers and the range on their shelves, they’ve got everything from the premium products like ‘Taste the Difference’ down to the ‘Basics’, so there is always a possibility that our ranges may match theirs.”
At the same time, there are a host of other outlets to consider, he says. “At Redbridge, we deal with catering, food processors, and wholesale markets, so when we look at a variety, it may be that it’s not suitable for retail but it may plug easily or slice well, making it ideal for the catering industry. The advantage of Redbridge Holdings is that we can look at all the different markets and assess whether a new variety will be suitable for the likes of Tesco or M&S or whether it will be the next replacement for Elsanta.” While Antea is still in the early stages of development, Wallbridge claims there are some good varieties to come through in the near future.
THE AVA SUCCESS STORY
Arguably one of the most exciting developments in soft fruit this year has been the launch of AVA, a banded strawberry, exclusive to Angus Soft Fruits (ASF). According to ASF’s commercial manager, John Gray, the company is happily reporting above market growth of 45 per cent for the season to date, and much of this success is thanks to AVA, he says.
Having assessed the first half of AVA’s debut season, ASF is pleased with the performance of its new berry brand. “We have created a brand logo that appeared for the first time on packs of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference AVA packs and the consumer feedback has been strong, as the branded punnets make it easier to identify the fruit in store,” says Gray.
At the same time the company has been offering samples of AVA to both consumers and the national media, who have given the variety five star reviews, he says. “Food writers have reported on the fruit’s distinctive aroma and mouth-watering taste. We know that the strawberries taste special but it is another thing to get the approval of food journalists who have welcomed AVA with open arms.”
The strawberry has also been exhibited at various food events, including The Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh which attracted over 150,000 visitors at the end of June.
This season, the company has focused on one specific market, but it has plans to diversify, as opportunities arise. “So far we have directed our energies at supermarkets, where, as well as Sainsbury’s, we are stocked by Tesco (Finest), Morrison’s (Best) and the Co-op,” says Gray. “However, we’ve gained strong interest from chefs of the highest echelon who are looking for tasty, premium, fresh ingredients. We are trialing some deliveries into New Covent Garden this week, so that we can supply London restaurants.
“Although any restaurant trade by its nature will be modest in volume, it would all the same be highly prestigious and a great way of spreading the AVA message to a wider discerning audience.”
ASF will be harvesting around 1,500t of AVA this season and has plans for continued expansion as customer demand continues to rise. The company is particularly interested in expanding its grower base in England, to allow for increased production of the branded strawberry.
ORGANIC SALES SOARING
Sales of British organic berries are soaring this year, with strawberries showing particular success, according to Tesco organic buyer, Kris Commerford. “Sales have been helped by the hot weather and we are getting better varieties from our strawberry breeders which are lasting well.”
Commerford says Tesco’s technical manager, Claire Jenkins, has been carrying out developmental work with the company’s organic growers in Herefordshire who have managed to produce organic remedies capable of increasing crop yields. And by producing greater volumes, Tesco has been able to reduce costs and narrow the discrepancy between organic and conventional produce, and entice additional customers.
Since the start of the season, the store has recorded a 60 per cent rise in sales to £370,000.
Demand for raspberries is similarly flourishing, which is particularly pleasing after the disappointment endured by organic growers last year. “We had to import all of the fruit from the US because the whole UK crop was wiped out by an aphid infestation. The farmers literally had to sit back and watch it being destroyed. But this year forecasts are looking better than ever,” says Commerfield.
SMOOTH AND INNOCENT
Fruit smoothie producer, Innocent Drinks, has agreed to produce a one-off set of raspberry smoothies for British Summer Fruits. As a gesture of the company’s appreciation for BSF’s continued support for its summer music festival, ‘Fruitstock’, Innocent will provide BSF with 50 smoothies made with British raspberries to send to representatives of the media as part of its British raspberry campaign.
According to a spokeswoman for Innocent, berries are a constant fixture on the smoothie menu, but are receiving particular attention this summer, with the launch of the cherry and strawberry-flavoured ‘Smoothie for Summer’. “The aim of our seasonal selections is to create a drink that remind you of that season and we think cherries and strawberries do just that,” she says.
HANDYDOME AFFECTS WEED-BREEDING HAVENS
While Spanish tunnels may be good for strawberries they are also a breeding haven for weeds, according to industry consultant and representative of Micron Sprayers, Terry Mabbett.
“Unwanted plants in strawberry crops read like a ‘who’s who’ of horticultural weeds,” he says. “Spraying is invariably required when ground conditions are difficult for the passage of conventional vehicle mounted and drawn high volume sprayers, and spray drift of herbicides is an ever-present threat.”
The development of the Flexidome, featured in FPJ’s Soft Fruit Supplement earlier this year, designed specifically for weed control in Spanish tunnelled strawberries and increasingly used in raspberries, has overcome many of these problems, says Mabbett.
“The secret of success is the CDA (controlled droplet application) spray heads shrouded with lightweight plastic domes that allow spraying right up to the shoulder without physical damage to beds or chemical damage to plants. The domes cover the spray heads and the weeds are well covered with spray.”
But weeds have a habit of growing in places that are hard to access. Sometimes the scale and design or terrain of weed-infested areas, such as small PYO (pick your own) farms, is just too small or even difficult for anything other than a portable sprayer.
Herefordshire-based Micron sprayers, designer and manufacturer of the Flexidome, has developed a portable sprayer based on the same principle using shrouded (covered) CDA spray heads. “The appropriately called ‘Handydome’ is for weed control virtually anywhere at anytime using a single dome covered CDA atomiser carried by one man,” says Mabbett.
“The portable and battery-operated Handydome sprayer comprises a rotary atomiser mounted under a freely rotating circular dome (shroud), to provide flexible and effective weed control with minimal droplet drift and significant labour savings.
“Low volume application with the ‘Handydome’ also drastically cuts the labour needed for spraying by cutting out many of the mixing, carrying and refilling operations required for high volume spraying. The Handydome therefore offers a much higher work rate, up to three times faster than a high volume ‘hand-pumped’ knapsack sprayer.”
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