The necessity of having a varietal mix will be a deciding factor in the future success of co-operative apple marketing, believe Philip Charlton and Nigel Bardsley, chairman and vice-chairman respectively of Mid Kent Growers (MKG). It is a view shared by Andy Sadler, managing director of Norman Collett, MKG’s marketing desk.
Charlton says that such close co-operation and common belief is highly valued as far as variety selection is concerned. “It gives us an added dimension into what our retail customers expect in the future,” he adds.
The group has 23 members, with 39 farms and a total of some 686 hectares of dessert and culinary apples and pears across Kent. Annual sales will top between £8 million and £9m this season. The membership is supported by five packhouses, which all have storage facilities, plus additional storage capacity on most members’ farms.
By industry standards, the organisation is long-established. Since 1972, when Nigel Bardsley’s father John became the founder chairman of MKG, the organisation has remained steady while top-fruit grower organisations around it have formed and reformed. Norman Collett, another founder MKG member, was persuaded to set up his eponymous marketing arm in 1977.
“There are several reasons behind our success,” says Nigel Bardsley. “Every member is treated equally and has a single vote in decision-making. We don’t have a chief executive, which cuts costs, but collectively have been able to benefit from being a producer organisation (PO) since our formation.”
Initially, this allowed MKG to lock in to FEOGA support, and subsequently funding available through the European Community. From this year, MKG is widening its role as a PO to cover all fruit, so members’ crops of soft fruit and stonefruit are included.
This will continue to assist MKG in achieving the levels of investment needed in a fruit industry where producers have to look more and more to the future. It has given added impetus to the search for potential new apple varieties to supplement Cox, Conference and Bramley.
An excellent recent example has been Rubens, the Italian bred Elstar/Gala cross. Bardsley was the first to follow his convictions with trials on his farm three years ago. He was initially so impressed with the large red apples that he brought home a tray from Italy. “Rubens was in an apple club but had not been taken up in the UK,” he explained, “but I recognised its value when I found that it could perform well this side of the Channel.”
Other growers in MKG were equally impressed, as it proved to be equally as disease-resistant as established English varieties, and showed every indication that around 90 per cent of fruit would be Class I and in the 65mm-plus size band. Now being planted on two years’ stock by MKG growers, there is a sizeable crop in the pipeline alongside established Cameo, and both varieties are protected by Norman Collett’s exclusive agreement with the breeders.
The use of grant aid has not only been spread across fruit culture; it has also extended beyond the farm gate. The PO committee produces an annual programme of projects it believes show the most promise.
“The right storage conditions are critical,” says Charlton, who admits at one point these left a little to be desired before recent upgrading work. “The result has been that we now have an excellent reputation,” he adds, “and we are planning to build more in the future.”
Season’s greetings
Kent apple crops are looking good this season - although there may be times when growers will have to take additional care, says Sadler as the first fruit begins to arrive in consumers’ fruit bowls.
The combination of warm days and cool nights has meant that fruit is already showing good colour, which will intensify as picking dates draw nearer, and rain has been beneficial in increasing marketable size.
“There is still some way to go, but we are optimistic over Bramley,” Sadler says. “The industry expects a 10 per cent increase, which is good news in the variety’s bicentennial year, as there should be increased consumer interest. However there are some signs of scab which will be out-graded, and that may reduce the final marketable fresh volume figure.”
The first fruit is already being marketed, although Sadler is not expecting to get underway until around August 24. “The initial judgement will come when picking for long-term storage in the last week of the month gets underway,” he says.
The outlook for dessert fruit tends to vary according to variety. “Cox generally appears to be between 10 and 15 per cent down,” says Sadler.
“It is a bit of a mixed bag as far as we can judge. There are some blind trees, but orchards vary. For example, there is russetting in some areas, while others show very clean fruit.
“Overall, I am confident that there will still be sufficient fruit to fulfil demand. Picking for storage is expected to start around September 6, while volume should be on the market about 10 days later.”
It is good news for Gala as more orchards come into bearing; trees have been thinned to deal with scab and help the development of fruit size and sugars. “However, there is already a good colour on the fruit, and we are expecting strong sales,” Sadler adds.
Crop estimates are up on Braeburn, although these are not as high as anticipated. With picking due to start in early October, Sadler warns against the danger of over-cropping young trees, which could have a detrimental effect next season.
A good crop of Egremont Russet is expected to be available, although to get an appreciable size, growers may still have to thin.
An upsurge with Cameo is predicted, although planting has slowed. Skin finish looks particularly good and picking is expected about the first week of October for marketing from early December through to April.
Similarly, late new variety Rubens, the latest addition to Norman Collett’s portfolio, will be picked in late September - and the portents are very favourable at present.
It will be the first year that the variety becomes commercial, with an estimated 600 bins expected to be available. “The limited amount last year was sent for trial with our retail customers and their consumers, and it received very favourable comment,” Sadler says.
As far as pears are concerned, the UK Conference crop has not been as hard hit as evidenced across the Channel. Skin finish is promising, and there is every indication that sizing will be good.
Looking to the future, there is also rich promise of exciting times ahead, based on a wide range of apples and pears that are passing through trials that last three years.
In the forefront is Modi, a red, glossy fruit which is already scoring beyond its taste as far as growers are concerned, as it can be grown residue free and only needs low chemical treatments.
And Beni Shogun is a high-quality Fuji that is already showing good Brix and pressure readings, although evaluation is only in the initial stages.
Something which will excite potential customers could be results, admittedly only in its first year, on a Pink Lady clone, which so far has yet to be grown in the UK.
“New early varieties also have the potential to replace Discovery,” adds Sadler, who reveals that one - identified only as E4021 to date - is already in the ground, alongside the Dutch-bred Junami, which is proving easy to grow and crops heavily.
Another is the bi-coloured Colina, and in the search for suitable organic varieties Golden Crisp, which is low on russet, has been selected.
The range of pears too may also be extended if Vereecken, a Dutch Conference type in its second year, comes through. And for something completely different, matching the consumer interest in coloured fruit is Carmen, a red pear in its first year.
TOMPSETT A PRIZE POSSESSION
Brian Tompsett, the award winning top-fruit and soft-fruit manager for Alan Firmin, pictured, is the third generation of a family that has contributed hugely to Kent’s reputation for fruit quality. He followed his grandfather and father into the industry, and all three worked for Rickards Farm, near Canterbury.
In 1999, after 31 years at the farm, Brian Tompsett joined Alan Firmin Ltd, which started farming at Linton in 1944, and today, besides its transport and property leasing businesses, is a major grower on three sites within a 10-mile radius; Ware’s Farm, Bluehouse Farm and Campfield Farm.
Since his arrival, Tompsett has rationalised the farm’s production system, or as he himself puts it, “planned production to meet a changing marketplace”.
The original 320 acres of top fruit have been reduced to 180a, and been planted with a more balanced mix of Cox - still the predominant variety - Bramley, Conference, Egremont Russet and Braeburn. Rubens is the most recent to be added, and there are plans to plant more in 2009. Cameo is being planted this autumn.
Despite the reduction in acreage, he says total volumes have not dropped, with new varieties and new cultural methods always under trial on the farms, often as part of joint work with East Malling Research, for which Tompsett runs a number of trials.
What, however, soon became clear as significant, as he hosted and guided members of Mid Kent Growers on their annual orchard walk earlier this month, was an absolute conviction that only the very highest quality is good enough for the customer. “We live in a competitive world, even among ourselves,” Tompsett tells FPJ. “There is no longer room to take any short cuts. The days of selling immature green Cox are over. You can only sell the best.”
Just how this has influenced him can be seen on the slopes of a block of Cox looking south across the picturesque rolling Kentish countryside. He achieved a grade-out of 96 per cent Class I within this orchard last season, which led to him winning the top East Kent Fruit Society prize this year.
The farm has achieved the Tesco Nature’s Choice Gold Standard and was also nominated as Tesco Top Fruit Grower for 2008.
This represents the latest in a long list of achievements across the county, the apex of which is illustrated by a bulging silver cabinet outside Tompsett’s office at Ware’s Farm, which holds countless medals from successes at the National Fruit Show.
To identify him simply as a “pot hunter”, however, could not be further from the truth. Tompsett has a deep conviction in the value of English apples and pears - if they are grown in the right way.
He serves on the Marden Fruit Show Society, and until recently also served on the East Kent Fruit Society Committee, as well as being a director of Mid Kent Growers and on the liaison committee at Norman Collett, passing on information which benefits his grower colleagues.
He believes the English apple industry has now come through its most difficult times, and has a high level of confidence that the market will now achieve not just stability, but also expansion. “There is a better understanding of marketing,” Tompsett says. “I believe the industry has some untapped, in-built advantages in the future because of public demand for more local sourcing, and the public’s concern over food miles because of environmental issues. Retailers are already having to respond, which must be good for us.”
There is also far more to growing apples than planting the right varieties in the right locations. As a manager responsible for ensuring top-quality fruit is available over a six-month season, handling and storage play a vital part.
“We have been trialling various systems of ethylene scrubbing and currently have four 100-tonne chambers, some of the first to be used in the UK,” he reveals. “Along with the extensive use of SmartFresh, this has allowed us to completely eliminate the need for post-harvest drenching.”
No comments yet