Princess Anne was the special guest as East Malling Research (EMR) launched ‘The Malling Collection’ of varieties at an industry conference this week.
The Malling Collection comprises all EMR varieties released since 1988, the year Princess Anne last visited the agricultural research facility based in East Malling, and still sold commercially.
EMR chief executive Professor Peter Gregory is hopeful that the collection will promote the ‘Malling’ brand and has confirmed the name will now be used in the title of all future varieties in a bid to educate consumers on where their fresh produce originates from.
“I am delighted to launch ‘The Malling Collection’ of varieties today as the varietal development activities we are undertaking here at East Malling are vital as we help growers to innovate, stay profitable and meet consumer demand for a range of perennial crops,” said Gregory.
The collection comprises 51 different varieties including strawberries, raspberries, hops, rootstocks, ornamentals, bush- and stonefruit, with the collection changing as new varieties are released and added.
EMR, which will soon launch a new website to coincide with the Fruit Focus event taking place at East Malling in July, also pointed out it had added 10 new scientists to its staff in the last 18 months as it continues to strengthen its scientific capabilities.
The 10 new arrivals include Dr Gerard Bishop, a specialist in post-harvest biochemistry, Dr Carole Wagstaff, a post-harvest specialist, and Dr Emma Skipper, a food-chain physiologist.
Gregory concluded: “Since I arrived at East Malling two years ago we have worked with the Trust to employ a new cadre of scientists who will bring in latest techniques to help further many of the challenges facing the horticultural industry as we address the food security issues of tomorrow.”
