Meet Our Growers
El Parque – Avocado
El Parque, Chile & Peru, Avocado Supplier. Sebastian Bulnes is 2nd generation having taken over the farm from his father back in 2004 following studies in the US. The family are well known for being the first to plant commercial avocado trees in Chile back in 1990 which helped pioneer the industry in this country. The farm has grown over the years specialising in Avocados & Citrus, and with land spreading over Latin America (3,000 hectares), Chile (2,000 hectares) and Peru (1,000 hectares). Sebastian’s goal is to deliver best quality Avocados year round, which is why he takes extra special care of his crop and carefully selects the land that gives the best conditions to grow the best fruit.
Mansfield – Top Fruit
Mansfields have been in the fruit business for many generations and are currently one of the largest fruit growing, storage and packing operations in the UK, both supplying and providing service provision for Top Fruit, Soft Fruit and Stone Fruit throughout the year to the UK’s major supermarkets. Mansfields pride themselves on being land owners who are in direct control of all of their investments, which drives sustainability and enables full traceability and provenance. The business grows over 25,000 tonnes of fruit each year over 3,000 acres of farmland, growing a number of Core and Niche varieties including Jazz™ of which they now have over 200,000 trees planted, in additional to a sizeable number of Smitten and Pink Lady too (with plans for many more new plantings in the next few years). Mansfields has extensive new Orchard plantings with the majority of its Top Fruit planted with the latest concrete post and wire systems. This allows for higher yields, allows more light for improved fruit colour, creates easier husbandry and harvest practices which drives economies of scale and keeps pace with the ever changing world of farming. Advancements in farming technology continue apace, which is why Mansfields are constantly looking ahead to plan for future investments that will continue to keep them sustainable and ahead of the competition. Mansfield’s business strives to keep their Kent farms every bit as beautiful as the day they opened them, and to protect and enhance the surrounding environment to ensure that the picturesque Kent countryside can be enjoyed by all for many decades to come.
A.Hinge and Sons – Top Fruit
A.Hinge and Sons began around 1915 with Alfred Hinge and later his son John who began farming in the Sittingbourne area of Kent. The farm thrived through the years growing Fruit, Vegetables and Livestock for the London Markets until 1987 when the hurricane wiped out most of the Orchards. At this point the Farm was 4th Generation, Alfred’s Great grandson Robert had taken over responsibility for the rebuild of the Fruit enterprise. Today, Robert has now been joined by his son John, to become 5th generation to the farm. A. Hinge and Sons currently farms about 3,000 acres of which 290 are devoted to fruit production split across Top Fruit & Stone Fruit. The farm’s innovation trial plots prides the farm in being able to grow niche and exclusive varieties amongst its core traditional varieties.
Dennegeur – Top Fruit
Dennegeur first started growing Top Fruit in 1948, when Sas Beukes bought the farm from his father in which the same year, the farms first apple trees were planted. The farm has a wealth of knowledge and experience which has passed down the generations. The farm is now 4th generation with Sas’ great grandchildren, Stephan and Carina Beukes now responsible for the farm. Dennegeur specialises in Topfruit with over 740 acres of land and 320,000 trees. The farm has invested into the latest technology and innovation such as using the latest state of the art soil moisture recording technologies along with irrigation and disease prediction models which enables them to continually improve best practices on the farm. Denngeur’s environmental management and sustainability practices are at the core of the business. Dennegeur has many projects running to support the local community, including a rural arts programme, a creche to support learning and development of working mothers children, along with the ‘Granny Smith’ ladies group which teaches arts, crafts, cooking and needlework. Dennegeur also provides a clinic and counselling services to attend to the physical and mental health of their workforce and their families.
Rio Cinca – Stone Fruit
Based in Spain in the Lerida region in Catalunya, Rio Cinca is a family owned business, currently 18th generation, that has a wealth of knowledge and experience in growing practices. Originally focused on wine and grape production the family now has 2,600 hectares mixed of arable land and orchards. Rio Cinca began growing Stone Fruit in the Euro valley over twenty years ago and was one of the earliest cherry regions in Spain. Rio Cinca chooses select varieties to maintain consistency in flavour profile throughout the Stone Fruit season with work caried out with breeders in selecting the best varieties for our customers. The business is committed to its land, nature, and the ecosystem ensuring that their crops as well as the biodiversity of their environment grow in the best conditions. Rio Cinca has a land stewardship agreement with the NGO SEO/BirdLife and TRENCA association in order to maintain, promote and enhance the avifaunal biodiversity of the territory. Their farms are also included in the Natura 2000 Network of European protected areas and catalogued as “Habitats of Community Interest”.
Frutas Esther – Stone Fruit
Frutas Esther based in Murcia, Spain, was founded by Gerardo Gómez Milanes, in 1969 with Gerardo’s three children gradually taking over the company after working with their father for many years. Then in 2019, after passing ownership of the business to a private equity firm in Barcelona, the company is under the umbrella of Citri & Co. The company specialises in Stone Fruit growing core and niche varieties with its semi desertic climate providing the best growing conditions. Besides Stone Fruit the company also grows table grapes, persimmon and berries. Some of the sustainability initiatives that take place include working closely with the University of Cartagena to optimise the irrigation in early nectarines and peaches, they also use rainfall from their packhouse to irrigate one of their apricots farms, along with optimise technology to determine the humidity of soil to define the need for irrigation.
