English stonefruit marketers have been lambasted for their lack of support for the category as growers struggle to sell fruit.
In a letter obtained by FPJ to all growers of English stonefruit, English Apples & Pears (EAP) CEO Adrian Barlow laments the failure of a number of marketing companies to support the industry in providing statistics.
In 2009, EAP was approached by growers who felt “that sales and grower returns had been adversely affected by a lack of industry statistics and publicity”. As a result, the following season, marketing bodies and retailers combined to provide statistics showing sales for 2009, forecast volumes for 2010 and weekly sales figures in the multiples.
But fears over commercially sensitive data being shared caused one supermarket to pull out mid-season in 2010. Hopes that the initiative could be resurrected this year were dashed by a lack of response from some marketers.
In the letter, Barlow states his “extreme disappointment” at the lack of response claiming “statistics and publicity are essential for successful marketing”.
“We cannot force the marketing companies to co-operate and if English growers want EAP to undertake this work in 2012 it will be necessary for them to instruct their marketing companies accordingly,” he wrote.
One source said the English sector is “very fragmented” and that it is unclear where the fault lies for surplus stonefruit.
But there was some positive news for the industry this week as Fourayes farm stepped in to relieve Victoria plum grower Nigel Bardsley of 30 tonnnes of surplus crop.
Bardsley appeared on BBC South East News last month as he could not find market for his plums as the supermarkets had reached their quota.
Fourayes, which has recently invested £300,000 in the first aseptic fruit puree processing machinery in the UK for use on strawberries, took on the plums to create puree.
Fourayes MD Phil Acock said: “Until now we’ve been processing strawberries and Bramley apples and having plums as well is fantastic.”
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