Fresh produce veteran and founder of Be Organic, Andrew Poulton,haspassed away at the age of 70.
Poulton, who was widely knownand respectedthroughout the trade both in the UK and abroad, started his career in 1964 in Old Covent Garden Market at a company called DanWuille& Co, following in the footsteps of his greengrocer father in coming into the industry.
He once wrote of his first day at work: “There I was one Monday at 7.30am,17 years old, voice not broken, 5’4, 10 stone maximum and wearing a suit from Burtons that my mum bought for me. Looking very conspicuous – everything brand new.”
Hisfondness for his surroundings, work and colleagues shone through, and he was soon taking on the job of junior salesman as he impressed his bosses with his dedication and willingness to learn.
A decade later he moved toSpitalfieldsat the request of Colin Bentley at Whites, an era he described as among the happiest in his career.
In the 1980s he got a job as a trading director at Dole, which he left in 2002 to set up Be Organic.The company, which is a particular specialist in citrus andtopfruit,supplies organic produce to box schemes, the wholesale and processing trade as well as major high street retailers.
Poultonhas been described by customersand suppliers alikeas “a true English gent”, with his many friends across the industry remarking on his passion and knowledge of citrus in particular.He wasalways generous with his advice to others and relished the opportunity to talk about the trade he knew so well.Son-in-law and colleague Dave Barker said it was typical of the man that despite fighting cancer for 16 months he wasenjoyingworking right until the end.
A keen golfer,who had been in and around single figure handicaps for over 40 years, last year herealised his dream of captaining the Royal Blackheath Golf Club. He was also an avidCharlton Athletic fan and a keen fly fisherman.
Poulton is survived byhis wife of 48 yearsJanice,theirdaughter Alix and son Daniel.
