The day before the Journal pitched up, one of the leading supermarkets was at Brogdale. “They wanted us to work with them and various fruit advisers to demonstrate the various pruning methods,” says Garrett. “This would enable growers to see first hand the distinction between different methods.”
This is typical of many approaches made to Garrett. In the end, she adds, it is the end-customers who will decide what expertise their suppliers need and therefore what services Brogdale should be able to provide. “They know what they want for their customers and we are seen as an important part of the category management process,” she says.
Garrett estimates that of the 2,300 apple varieties grown at Brogdale, between 200 and 300 could have real commercial potential, in varying degrees. Of course each supermarket chain wants to differentiate its own offer and with Brogdale having only two trees of each variety in its orchards, there is an enormous capacity to achieve that. “There are more than enough varieties here for every supermarket and many more speciality outlets besides to do their own thing,” says Garrett.
“Brogdale could be an umbrella for an entire range of apples and that is where we would like to be. Waitrose already has a Brogdale vintage collection, Sainsbury's a heritage collection and other retailers have used the Brogdale brand. The apples are always going to be part of a chain's premium range at this point because of the volumes available. We can only move away from that if and when a grower is able to bulk up with 15,000-20,000 trees.”
Heavy planting of a new variety is always on the surface a risk, but for large-scale growers the risk of producing apples on demand of the customer is more of a perceived than real gamble. “The risk can be spread,” says Garrett, “and the closer we can work with the marketing organisations, while letting them use our name the better. Consumers who believe that 1,2 or even 3p of the money they are spending on a kilo of apples is going to be ploughed back into research to keep the British industry alive will pay that premium. They won't do that with established varieties such as Cox and Bramley.”
Waitrose took the Meridian variety on board amid much publicity, but the jury remains out. The Yorkshire public thought the variety was fantastic, according to Garrett, while it has been met with decidedly mixed reaction in the south. “Speciality food is niche and there are definitely regional differences in taste that do not apply to some of the mainstream varieties,” she adds.
Brogdale has traditionally been seen as a place where apple varieties are trialed, which has taken pressure off individual growers to take the plunge. The meridian project, says Garrett, was a case in point. “No-one wanted to take a risk and Brogdale is of course highly suitable for the job. We are still open to that, but we want to develop other projects with the industry too.”
The emphasis on marketing of fruit to children is another area suited to a collection that includes fruit of all shapes, colour and size. The smaller fruiting apples are being touted to growers who might find a new market through the national fruit-for-school and 5-a-day schemes. “Children seem to like Gala, and they are also interested in some of the more unusual varieties we have here. We want to enthuse growers about the possibilities open to them here.”
Brogdale is a charity and trust and has three principles as its pillars: “conservation, education and research”, says Garrett.
“The trust is all for responsible education of the consumer. A lot of foodies suppose that Brogdale is organic, but my answer to them is always that we wouldn't be here if we were organic. We simply could not keep the collection alive if we relied on organic methods. That is not to say we are over-reliant on chemicals of course, but as the industry knows, we have to apply chemicals selectively to ensure production thrives. Brogdale did however supply the 40 or so varieties that producers have been analysing to gauge the potential for organic top-fruit production.
“Education comes through places like this being open to the general public and I long for the day when we have a proper visitor centre.” Garrett expects that stage of development to take place within the next three years and accepts that even then, marketing of the centre would need to be as selective as the application of chemicals to the trees, in order to ensure a steady message is put across.
The wider messages can also be enhanced by the work at Brogdale, she adds. “There are many people in this country that actively support cancer research campaigns and are genuinely interested in how fruit can assist in the prevention of cancer. Brogdale is here to educate them and if we were given money to research into that area, alongside partners like East Malling, we could provide an invaluable service to the industry.”
Brogdale, not Gravesend as was widely reported in the national press, was the place which recorded the highest ever temperature in the UK last year, a whopping 38.5°C. That too was turned to the industry's advantage. “It gave us the perfect opportunity to tell the media why this was a good thing for our fruit. Next year we ñ if we get similar heat ñ will step that up again and send fruit to weathermen.”
Favourable weather has given the English apple sector a far more positive feel. “The atmosphere this season has been fantastic. I've only been involved in the fruit industry for five years, but it is the best I've known. What we must ensure is that excellence is maintained and that we guard against over-production in the future.”
You might expect the Brogdale leader to be dead against all imported fruit, but Garrett is nothing if not a realist. “I'm a mother and I need to feed my children. The world is a very small place now and the UK market is open to competition from every corner. We have to produce the right products at the required time and at the right price to compete with imported fruit. Not everyone will be able to afford what we have here, but at the end of the day people generally eat to live, they don't live to eat,” she says.
“Companies such as Worldwide Fruit ñ who are bringing New Zealand bred varieties into the UK equation ñ are challenging us all in the UK. But the basket of varieties we have here offers huge opportunities to those who are wiling to invest in them. We cannot work exclusively with any organisation and we can work internationally ñ the trees are paid for by taxpayers' money and they would not be happy if we had monopolistic relationships.”
The British appetite for speciality food is insatiable, according to Garrett, and variety remains the spice of choice for apple consumers. “It is a question of how the varieties are marketed. There are many hours spent producing apples that are uniform and while there is a place for that, there is also a lot of interest in non-uniformity. Some of the more interesting varieties, which are not commercially viable in this country, could be more suitable for bulking up overseas. We have already discussed the possibility with both supermarkets and marketing organisations ñ while two or three years ago people would have rolled their eyes at such an idea, now they say ëwhy not?'”
A new Kent County Council (KCC) initiative has brought together Brogdale and Hadlow College with HRI East Malling, Imperial College at Wye and Kent County Agricultural Society for monthly board meetings that will encourage open dialogue on common issues that can be tackled to mutual benefit. Hadlow's set up at Brogdale has delivered countless pluses to both parties and to students who are able to work on what is inarguably the most diverse fruit orchard in the country.
Hadlow closed its Canterbury fruit farm around five years ago and last year moved its East Kent operation to Brogdale. During the last 12 months there has been a renewed impetus in take-up of the courses on offer. Many of those are for the amateur enthusiast, and Royal Horticultural Society courses are thriving five days a week. However there is commercial realism in the short-term development objectives. “It is one of our major goals to resuscitate some of the key fruit courses for farmers, which have unfortunately dwindled over the last few years. Many farmers in Kent have seen their sons and daughters go elsewhere for training and often not return and we want to ensure that Kent farmers have the opportunity to learn what they need to in their own county,” says Garrett. “Hadlow used to offer that to south-east farmers and Brogdale can do it again. Historical links with East Malling and Wye are also a big help on this front.”
The long-term importance of specialised growers and trainers should not be under-estimated. “When a young farm manager takes the helm, where does the specialist knowledge that is vital to that role come from?” Garrett asks. The diversity of skills needed on the 21st century farm cannot be maintained without a robust training network. The situation in some quarters is already dire. “There are no full-time nurserymen in educational establishments now. Where does the next generation of advisers come from?
“We have to move with the times and find ways to encourage specialised people to stay within the fruit industry. By working together, Hadlow and Brogdale have achieved something that individually they could not have done. Partnership and co-operation is a must in this day and age and the KCC initiative has helped and will continue to help us enormously.”
Like all true entrepreneurs Garrett is not 100 per cent satisfied with achievements to date. “We had a five-year plan when I came here and, while we have achieved a lot of things, including the number-one priority of making ourselves profitable again, we haven't done everything. We ideally would like to buy the farm back and if it was in our hands completely, that would make a huge difference to our outlook.”
The Brogdale site is becoming a veritable farmers' market in its own right, with the shop able to stock preserves, conserves, cheeses and even perfumed soaps produced on-site. The revenue from the companies that have come in is extremely useful of course, but almost as important is the sense of community it has created. “Gone are the days when we could be seen purely as a fruit farm,” says Garrett. “We have hanging-basket producers, an engineer and a mini-railway, while a financial services company and a wine merchant are keen to move in this year. We also have a number of local groups that use the facilities for meetings. We need 600 people a week footfall to break even ñ we are now achieving that.
“This year we've made a profit. I think if farmers begin to realise that we can do that here with just two trees of each variety, if they make the right choices there is a lot that can be done with bigger volumes of the same varieties. Each year we make a profit our confidence builds ñ and you cannot take risks if you don't have the confidence.”
Garrett's ambition has been the driving force behind the resurgence of one of the industry's most valuable and, unfortunately undervalued, assets. She signs off with a line we would all do well to remember. “Unless you have dreams now, they will never be realised.”
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