The UK plum season started in mid-July more or less in line with recent averages. First arrivals on the marketplace are Opal plums with the very earliest fruit harvested from under protected tunnel structures.
This variety is now running alongside some small volumes of Violetta, which is a much darker and sweeter plum. Suppliers also report that Reeves Seedling will be taking up the standard as harvesting begins next week.
Victoria, still the mainstay of UK production, is set to start on schedule around August 10. Supplies will be complemented by newer varieties Avalon, Excalibur and Jubileum. The season will hit its four-week peak between August 17 and September 14 with Marjorie Seedling taking over until October.
Growing conditions have been good for the fruit and despite worries about frost earlier in the spring, growers' worst fears have been allayed and damage averted. In fact, the cold snap has performed a natural thinning function for many trees in both Kent and Herefordshire.
Last season saw high volumes and this season is forecast to at least match it.
Producers and marketing organisations are focusing on the home-grown nature of the crop and are getting behind a National Farmers' Union campaign effort: Everyone Loves Great British Plums.
The initiative is being launched on August 18 to coincide with the peak in Victoria supplies. It will encourage shoppers to purchase all the main-season plum varieties with particular emphasis on Victoria and Marjorie Seedling.
The major multiples are also getting behind the campaign and fruit will benefit from packaging featuring the Union Jack in support of the campaign as well as the NFU's little red tractor assured produce logo.
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