A crop of Gala grown by Kent producer RD Applegrowers has been deemed fit for the Queen after it won the Best All Round Exhibit at the National Fruit Show.
The producer, which only entered the contest for the first time in 2013, beat off stiff competition to claim the top prize in this year’s awards. The wining selection will now be sent to Buckingham Palace to be sampled by the Queen.
“We don’t have irrigation on the farm so we have to rely on rain to size our fruit,” explained farm manager Mark Cooper. “Despite the dry summer, we never really struggled because we grow in clay-based soil and it keeps the moisture in and does the job for us.”
“We didn’t produce any more fruit than in other years, but in terms of quality everyone says the internal structures are as good as they’ve seen.”
The grower, which is based in Chainhurst and supplies topfruit distributors Avalon Produce and Worldwide Fruit, also picked up the AR Pillar Challenge Cup for Rubens, as well as two awards for the best exhibit of dessert apples among several others.
Co-owner of the family business Jo Cooper said the victory was a surprise, but a welcome one given the amount of time the family had spent buffing, scrutinising and selecting apples in the past few days.
Once again the National Fruit Show’s biggest winner, in terms of its total number of prizes, was Kent grower Bardsley Farms. The producer won a whopping 17 awards, including the Bayer Rose Bowl for the Best Exhibit of Pears and the Podger Norton Trophy for the Best Exhibit of Culinary Apples.
