For the first time ever English stonefruit growers have come together to try to unite their fragmented industry, enlisting English Apples & Pears to co-ordinate information sharing and some PR effort on cherries and plums this summer.
After a disastrous marketing effort on English plums last season saw top quality fruit destroyed in what was a vintage year, growers and marketers supplying all the major multiples came together in March to identify the sector’s problems and find solutions.
“We had 10 organisations around the table at that meeting,” said Adrian Barlow, ceo of EAP. “And very sensibly they have decided to start modestly. What is very encouraging is that there is unanimous agreement among them with everyone chipping in with funding and contributing their figures.”
Barlow said he would produce an analysis of weekly sales figures in the same way EAP does for apples and pears. The aim was to ensure the whole of the English crop was sold and returns were at a level that enabled continued investment by growers into their business.
“If this is successful, we may have to look at changing our articles of association,” said Barlow. “Then we might be able to look at the possibility of doing more PR on stonefruit.”
