The strawberry harvest is continuing at Asplins Producer Organisation in Kent, the peak volumes are past but picking will continue with significant volumes for a while yet.
“It has been quite a challenging season,” said Chris Rose, Commercial Controller at the company. “We had a late start with two peaks with very mixed weather. Last week was dry but we have also had some very wet weather, the weather this season has been very localised which has probably made a difference to the supply from different areas. There was too much fruit around ten days ago and the wet weather does not encourage demand.”
Labour is also an ongoing challenge for growers in the UK.
The early floricane raspberry varieties, which started three weeks late, peaked around six weeks ago and Asplins growers are into the main crop. “We are now getting through the long cane, and primocane 
raspberries are just starting. We expect volumes to be as predicted at the start of the season and demand has been quite good, although at peak times the volumes have exceeded demand.”
The blueberries have been going for a few weeks and production is going well, but there is a lot competition on the market.
“There are a lot Eastern European imports which are at times cheaper than UK blueberries. unlike strawberries and raspberries, blueberries are not seen in Summer as a purely British product which brings challenges in the market. Our blueberry volumes are increasing but we are still a relatively small player”.
For more information:
Chris Rose
Asplins Producer Organisation
Tel: +44 1795 594811
Email: [email protected]
