Grower Profile Articles

This month we headed to Suffolk to speak to Moat Farm’s Henry Dobell, who has gone against the trend for having the same varieties available all year round, and encourages people to eat seasonally. Sarah Kidby reports.

Editor Rachel Hicks caught up with Gunyah Vineyard to discuss why the team focuses
on sustainability and the importance of building local relationships.

With origins in the 1920s, Place UK now has an eclectic offering, from soft fruit for the fresh market, to IQF and food processing. Sarah Kidby finds out more about the technology this innovative grower is embracing.

Where dinosaurs once roamed, grapes now grow – and the wine produced by Rutland Vineyard in Lincolnshire is reaping the rewards of the 160,000,000-year-old soil. Rachel Hicks reports.

One of the oldest commercial vineyards in the UK, Astley Vineyard was established in the lush Severn Valley in Worcestershire in 1971 and features some unexpected grape varieties. Editor Rachel Hicks spoke to its current owners, the Haywood family, to find out more.

Barra Berries opened their 13th century tower house for a series of diversifications including weddings, accommodation, a restaurant and farm shop, alongside their livestock and soft fruit businesses. Sarah Kidby reports.

Kinsbrook is a progressive vineyard in the heart of West Sussex, run by owner and managing director Joe Beckett and his partner and marketing director, Rebecca Dancer.

Pixley Berries, the longest-standing supplier for innocent Drinks, is using grant funding to trial biostimulants, in a bid to mitigate the impacts of climate change on its blackcurrant crop.

Forty Hall Vineyard is London’s only commercial-scale vineyard, and is run as a not-for-profit social enterprise. Its head of operations, Emma Lundie, explained how it works to Fruit & Vine editor Rachel Hicks.

Wilkin & Sons is world-renowned for its jams, produced in Tiptree, Essex for over 130 years – with its Little Scarlet strawberry jam even finding favour with 007. Sarah Kidby visited the farms and factory to learn more about its enterprise.

Based in the Cotswolds, the family behind Deer Park Wines are passionate about producing award-winning English wines, with a commitment to quality and sustainability. Rachel Hicks reports.

The Summer Berry Company, which produces 7,000 tonnes of fruit in the UK a year, has adopted robotics and green energy solutions to help it meet its sustainability goals – and it’s got big expansion plans in the next few years. Sarah Kidby reports.