Highland Court Farm (HCF) won this year’s Top Fruit Grower of the Year award, at an awards ceremony in London last week.
The grower, based in Canterbury, Kent, markets its fruit through Worldwide Fruit (WWF), and was presented with a trophy by Chris Hutchinson, tenants’ association chairman at New Spitalfields Market, which sponsored the award.
Judges said HCF stood out due to its proliferation of major prizes in the apple and pear categories at last year’s National Fruit Show. Its Hillwell Braeburn scored an incredible 99.5 out of 100, and the grower’s pears triumphed in all four pear classes.
The last 12 months also saw HCF pick up top marks from both Tesco Nature’s Choice and BRC, which can only be achieved, said judges, through a consistently high standard of operation throughout the chain from planting and picking, to pest control and packaging.
The company has also increased its efficiency. The awards brochure said: “HCF tightened up on efficiency by using picking trains during apple and plum harvests to save hundreds of pounds a day. This resulted in a reduction of staffing levels by up to 75 per cent, while average picker outputs rose by 60 per cent.”
Another top-fruit winner was WWF, which saw Jazz take the New Variety of the Year award at the ceremony. The first commercial crop of the variety grown in the UK has come through this season, and a £5 million investment in new plantings will see significant additional volume coming on stream in the next few seasons.
A media push, fronted by Masterchef presenter Greg Wallace, pictured above, allied with a polybag line in Tesco and expanding sales in Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose, all stand Jazz in good stead for expansion in the years to come.
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