Author Archives: Richard

Berryworld gives away raspberries at Wimbledon

Soft fruit supplier Berryworld has sought to raise the profile of its own brand berries, which were first launched 18 months ago, by handing out around 7,500 pots of raspberries to tennis fans in the queue during the first week of Wimbledon.

Berryworld Managing Director Paul Cole said the event was aimed at raising awareness of the company’s branded offering: “We’ve done tastings at retailers, but that’s mainly been own label,” he said. “This is the biggest event we’ve done to promote our brand but we’ve got more planned. There are so many different avenues you can go down to push the name forward.”

He also said that while products such as raspberries and blueberries were unlikely to become as popular as strawberries, there was plenty of potential for growth. “They’ve got a long way to go and part of our job as marketers is getting people buying into them,” he added.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

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Potato industry reacts to acrylamide regulations

The European Commission has asked for comments on proposals on ‘benchmark’ levels for acrylamide which have been published on its website.

The draft project asks for producers to apply measures to reduce levels of acrylamide in products such as chips, crisps and other potato products, as well as other baked goods and coffee. It comes after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its scientific opinion on acrylamide in food; reconfirming previous evaluations that acrylamide in food potentially increases the risk of developing cancer.

The Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Federation (ETL) stressed, ‘the need of taking regional conditions in to account when assessing the necessity of certain mitigation methods. For example, the use of chemical substances to suppress sprouting has not been seen necessary since cool (winter) storage conditions prevent sprouting. Not using sprouting suppressing agents is also a measure preventing overall exposure to chemicals. Also, the change of raw material or ingredient should not lead to poor or lesser nutritional quality at the cost of lower acrylamide levels.’

In addition, the Finnish Frozen Food and Potato Association (F&P) have written that the suggested benchmark level of 750 µg/kg for potato crisps is too low and could cause problems both for Finnish potato producers and food processors. ‘The acrylamide level should stay at 1000 µg/kg for potato crisps. No health problems reported so far and the recent level is already cutting out the high acrylamide levels from production. Potato crisps are minor products and not part of daily diet,’ they said.

Photo Credit: Flickr

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New flexible training opportunities for agri-food professionals

A new AgriFood Training Partnership (AFTP) has been launched which claims to build on the three previous Advanced Training Partnerships (ATPs) in agri-food, food and pasture. These former partnerships were all funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) with the primary aim of translating cutting edge research into applied industry expertise within the agri-food sector. Since 2012, they have delivered short course training and postgraduate qualifications to over 1,500 individuals from more than 700 businesses.

The new AFTP combines skills and knowledge from six different university partners and is collectively offering more than 150 courses and workshops in all areas of agricultural production, environmental protection, food manufacture and scientific research.

Carol Wagstaff, Professor in Crop Quality for Health and Director of the AFTP commented, “We are delighted to be in the privileged position of receiving a further £1.5 million from BBSRC to enable unification of the AFTP and expansion into new markets both at home and overseas. In an era of climate change, food insecurity and an ever growing population, the AFTP is helping the industry’s best talent to deepen their knowledge, advance their skills and progress their careers through flexible training opportunities and continuing professional development.”

Photo Credit: BBSRC

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Hydroponic internships available in South Wales

A studentship is available to work with Phytoponics and Aberystwyth University, giving the successful applicant the chance to consider what makes a successful hydroponic crop and how can we improve the agronomy of hydroponics to maximise the yield, efficiency of production and crop quality.

South Wales-based has developed the Hydrosac, a novel device for growing plants hydroponically that expands the range of applications of hydroponics. According to the firm the Hydrosac opens up the opportunity to develop novel agronomy for large scale hydroponics and to develop varieties that are specifically selected for use in hydroponic agriculture.

The project will grow a diverse population from a range of potential salad crops in Hydrosacs, identifying suitable variations to improve plant growth for hydroponic systems and will identify what characteristics are associated with superior performance to establish the characteristics that define a successful hydroponic crop. A major outcome will be to identify the potential impact of new breeding programmes specific for hydroponic agriculture.

Specific aims include identifying crop phenotypes in hydroponic and conventional growing systems, testing how different crops may be optimally linked through hydroponics to maximise the use of nutrient and space, and performing a large scale test of selected crop types to confirm in detail improvements in hydroponics using the Hydrosac for yield and nutrient content.

Photo Credit: Phytoponics

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New technology could cut strawberry waste

A new filter which absorbs and locks in ethylene in enclosed spaces, such as retail packaging, could revolutionise the shelf life of fresh produce according to the company behind it.

Figures from tech company It’s Fresh! claim their filter inserts are now saving 1,134 tonnes of strawberries each year; the equivalent of almost three million punnets, or forty times the number of strawberries eaten at Wimbledon every summer. The green and white stripy filters are now being used by supermarkets including M&S, Morrisons, and Waitrose.

Simon Lee, co-founder of It’s Fresh! said, “Wasting food really does waste everything – Water, labour, energy, time and money. Many of us know that over a third of the food produced globally gets wasted, but what you might not know is that it takes almost half a gallon of water to grow one strawberry, add to that the labour & fuel to pick, pack, ship and process it for retail merchandising ….and you can begin to see the scale of the problem that we face.”

Photo Credit: It’s Fresh!

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Wholesalers concerned about effects of hot weather

According to reports, some wholesalers have expressed concern about the recent spate of hot, dry weather on the availability of certain UK produce lines, including broccoli and some soft fruit.

Following temperatures of 31oC in Lincolnshire and 25oC in Cornwall, former Secretts Direct boss Vernon Mascarenhas of New Covent Garden’s First Choice Produce told the Fresh Produce Journal that “Broccoli will be hardest hit because generally you don’t irrigate broccoli. In this heat the broccoli plant will dehydrate and shut down.”

He added, “Strawberries are also going to be a problem. In this weather strawberry plants can just shut down and stop producing. “Everyone loves the hot weather but people should realise what it can do to our food chain,” he said. “There are going to be consequences.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

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New Fieldloader options make transportation easier

Tong Engineering has announced a number of new design options for its Fieldloader in-field grader and bulker loading system, including automatic transport-mode features which allow users to make the machine even more compact for road transportation.

“Our Fieldloader is increasingly popular with growers as it means soil is removed in the field and kept off the public roads, plus transport of crop is significantly reduced as there is a no need to transport crop to a central yard or location” explained Charlie Rich, Export Sales Manager at Tong Engineering. “It significantly reduces crop handling times, allowing growers to meet tight deadlines and deliver crop in optimum condition straight from the field.”

The new model of the machine incorporates a transport-mode option featuring a powered elevator section that automatically retracts back under the cleaning and inspecting sections of the machine, making the unit as short as possible when towing on the road. Foldable conveyors are also a feature on the transport-mode design to make the Fieldloader as narrow as possible. The machine is also available with a choice of crop cleaning systems including Tong’s EasyClean separator adjustable coil cleaning unit.

Thetford-based Elveden Farms is currently operating a custom-built Fieldoader, designed to clean and load the farm’s carrot and onion crop straight from the field. Farm Manager Andrew Francis commented, “Our original Fieldloader from Tong has streamlined our post-harvest crop handling times and has allowed us to achieve a very quick turnaround from field to bulker lorries. Our second Fieldloader is now in production and we look forward to increasing our capacity even further.”

Photo Credit: Tong Engineering

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NFU clashes with WWF at Nuffield Conference

NFU vice-president Guy Smith clashed with WWF-UK’s food policy manager Duncan Williamson at last week’s Nuffield Conference.

In a panel debate, Mr Smith commented, “We pick up some bad habits from the green NGOs who have something to sell when it comes to spreading bad news. I’ve got no issue with this but the WWF like to point to the things we haven’t got on our farms in terms of wildlife and frequently ignore what we have got. That sometimes irritates me.”

In response, Mr Williamson stressed that 60 per cent of biodiversity loss worldwide can be linked to agriculture and food systems and disagreed that it did not recognise good environmental actions by farmers. “We celebrate the good farmers, we work with farmers all over the world,” he said. “We work with farmers in East Anglia and with farmers along the River Itchen who are doing fantastic work to get the chalk streams back up to a really good level.”

Photo Credit: NFU

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Poupart re-launches Ravenhill brand

Poupart Produce used the recent London Produce Show to re-launch its premium ‘Ravenhill’ brand of products, which is currently listed in Ocado.

Named after one of the Poupart Group’s founders; William Ravenhill, the company is targeting premium retailers with the range which currently includes cherries, asparagus and rhubarb, although Poupart commercial manager, Sam Trebbick told reporters that the brand could include premium produce from any category.

His remarks suggest that the range will therefore sit across the top of Poupart Produce’s company structure, which includes Poupart Imports, Orchard World, Citrus First and Norton Folgate. The company said that it is currently in talks with other retailers about listing the brand.

Photo Credit: Poupart Produce

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Combating weeds with lasers

Researchers from the University of Bonn in Germany are working in a system which would automatically identify weeds and then destroy them using a short laser pulse.

Dr. Julio Pastrana and Tim Wigbels from the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the University of Bonn are currently developing a novel system which uses cameras on an all-terrain robot vehicle, or which could be mounted on a tractor add-on. They say that unwanted weed species should be automatically identified in a variety of crops and treated in a targeted way.

“The robot shoots the leaves of the unwanted plants with short laser pulses, which causes a weakening in their vitality,” reports Dr. Pastrana.

“We predict that we will no longer need to use herbicides on our fields and the environment will be protected,” adds Wigbels. “It is now a case of finding investors and further developing the business plan for the start-up.”

The researchers are now developing a new start-up company ‘Escarda Technologies’ for one year at the University of Bonn with an EXIST grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and the researchers are also using the funding to buy the parts needed to construct a prototype.

Photo Caption: Tim Wigbels (left) and Dr. Julio Pastrana (right) with their weed recognition software which is detecting a plant and how the laser system is shooting and damage its foliage.

Photo Credit: Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

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