“No one owes us a living, although at least 50 per cent of consumers want to buy English fruit,” said Scripps. “The label is the only way we can identify ourselves against foreign fruit.”
Scripps who was one of the best known growers in the industry, retired 10 years ago, but still actively follows the fortunes of the industry. Earlier this month he welcomed more than 50 growers to the 100-hectare Parsonage Farm chosen as the venue for the National Fruit Show Farm Walk held in Kent. Producers were also joined by a delegation of South African apple growers from Valley Packers in Elgin.
Scripps told freshinfo: “Just being cheap doesn't sell more fruit, but there is no longer any room for growers to offer anything but class I.” He added that there had also been an increase in the proportion of fruit sold in poly bags.
The farm is one of five in the group and grows Conference, Cox, Bramley, Braeburn, Jonagold and Kanzi a new variety grown under licence, with a pink blush. Another newcomer is Greenstar planted on other sites in the county. These two will both crop around 1,500 tonnes by 2010, out of a total of nearly 16,000 tonnes of apples and pears.
Scripps is optimistic about the coming season following recent heavy rain. “The orchards are looking totally refreshed and it has come at a time when fruit sizes up just before harvesting,” he said. “Cooler nights are also improving colour.”
This year Scripps expects his Bramley to begin harvesting about September 4, with Cox and Gala on September 14 and Conference at roughly the same time. “To remain competitive and obtain comparable international yields an orchard must also have sufficient bearing wood to produce crops of over 50 tonnes a hectare of class I fruit in supermarket size and quality specifications,” he said.
This has meant growing trees up to 3.5 meters on a trellis system, developed to support larger trees, but allowing plenty of light giving earlier yields.
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