The main cherry harvest at McIntyre’s Fruit in Blairgowrie, Perthshire started right on time on 18th August. The timing is good, but clashes slightly with the end of the English season which started late this year.
“We may see lower prices initially, but those will improve quickly as the English fruit ends. We had expected there be more of an overlap with the late start but it has worked out better than expected,” said Matthew McIntyre.
Cerasina from Stopple will be picked in 10 day’s time
Matthew is confident that UK retailers will support the late British crop while there is the option of lower specification, long-term stored North American fruit.
“The main part of our crop goes to Berry Gardens, which is then marketed by Driscoll’s but we are also keen to export, the relationship with Driscoll's is still very new but we are hoping they will facilitate more export, so we don’t have to rely solely on the UK market. We have the varieties which are robust enough for export and we also have a very well equipped packhouse with a hydrocooler and cold store which can store fruit at 0 degrees.”
“The weather has not been too bad for cherries during the growing season, it was hot and humid just before the harvest started and we did have to go through the tunnels and do a bit of cleaning up. The main harvest will have a normal yield, but no bumper crop this season, just a nice balanced crop which is a better result in terms of value. We have great quality and size.”
In the new blocks the cherries are grown in higher tunnels which have good air movement and much more space, there is also a pollinator mix sown in between the rows of trees, which helps pollination and there in need to mow.
Matthew is pleased to have four Chilean picker this year, these are very experience workers and they are already seeing the benefits, he also has quite a few returnees from previous years who are key workers in the packhouse.
Varieties
Matthew grows varieties from the Stopple range and from Summerland, he is also doing trials of 7 or 8 Gräb varieties. One of these is Kir Roso, a very late, firm variety with high brix.
“These varieties are popular with the retailers, they are robust and have great brix.”
There has been a lot said about retailers increasing prices instore but not passing this on to growers, Matthew agrees that this is a problem and said that it could be partly helped by retailers not insisting on small packs, “These are inefficient and cost growers the same as the big packs with less return. I understand that these are useful for retailers, it sometimes sounds like you are getting a good price but after you take away all the costs there is not much left."
Sentennial from Summerland will be picked in week's time
End of an era
This is the last year that McIntyres will do raspberries, a couple of years ago they also stopped growing strawberries. In the 60’s and 70’s Blairgowrie was the raspberry growing capital of the world and the McIntyre family has been growing raspberries in Blairgowrie for 110 years.
Matthew McIntyre
“As with strawberries, it is just not profitable, we don’t have access to varieties which grow well in Scotland and also our climate doesn’t allow us to double crop here in Scotland, the season is just too short. It’s shame as back in the 60’s and 70’s Blairgowrie was producing 2-3000 tonnes each year.
“We are now committed to cherry growing, I think we have enough different varieties and locations to mitigate any risk that comes from growing just one crop. Our trees are getting older and more consistent.
For more information:
Matthew McIntyre
McIntyre Fruit Ltd
Tel: +44(0)1250 884212
[email protected]
www.mcintyrefruit.co.uk
