Berry trade body boosted with two new members

Berry companies S&A Produce and CPM Retail have joined industry body British Summer Fruits (BSF), boosting the number of full members to eight.

BSF, which spent £350,000 on PR and marketing from May 2013 to March 2014, also has seven ‘associate’ members.

“We aim to represent 100 per cent of the industry, and CPM and S&A’s membership counts as a vote of confidence in the work and results that British Summer Fruits strive for,” said BSF chairman Laurence Olins.

S&A Produce’s Daniel Martin said: “BSF and its Seasonal Berries campaign are making a real difference to the soft fruit industry in the UK, and we are thrilled to be re-joining them.

“We are fully committed to the industry, and are pleased to join efforts to raise awareness and consumption of berries.”

Berries is the only fruit category that supports year round PR and advertising using a single agency. The Seasonal Berries marketing campaign, run by BSF since 2004, has seen industry growth more than double in 10 years.

Olins added: “We are delighted to be expanding our membership base to help promote berries and grow the category. As a result, British Summer Fruits now accounts for virtually all berries supplied to the UK’s leading supermarkets.”

Gary Linsell from AG Thames, parent company of CPM, said: “We are delighted that CPM Retail is to become to be a full member of BSF, whose work and Seasonal Berries campaign have clearly been driving the category forward since its inception. We are looking forward to sitting on the board of Directors and representing our growers’ interest at a national level.”

Full members of BSF include Angus Soft Fruit, Berryworld, Berry Gardens, Rodanto, Total Berry and T&JB Produce. Associate members include Olive Grove Salads, RG Walter & Son, CR Melton & Sons, International Produce, E C Drummond & Son, Newmafruit and Wilkin & Son Tiptree.

According to BSF figures, berries now account for nearly a fifth (17.2 per cent) of the total UK fruit spend and the category has doubled in value from £326 million in 2004 to £809m in 2013.