Paving dividends

摘要

This year's fruit is very late but the quality is beautiful," says National Fruit Show chair Sarah Calcutt, who also represents a number of Kent-based producers. A warm early autumn, with a sharp difference between day and night temperatures, also helped this season's apples colour up, she adds. However, the prolonged cold and damp spring had an impact on pollination, which will keep volumes below the bumper year of 2011. Behind the immediate figures though, lies a programme of investment and strengthening of supply chains and prolongation of the season, she says. "There is a lot going on. Dutch tree growers have good order books from the UK, and that's for expansion rather than replacement planting. With that goes new irrigation. Cold storage and grader suppliers also have a lot of orders—not necessarily on the AC Goatham scale. All are doing better than for quite a long time."