Optimism for a prosperous 2005

Rupert Hargreaves, Commercial Director at Hargreaves Plants, is optimistic for a prosperous and busy 2005. Though the strawberry market is stabilising, he is excited about the rejuvenation of interest in raspberries and the massive amount of customer and retailer importance being placed on blueberries.

Sales in strawberries and requirements for plants are levelling out but Hargreaves sees an opportunity to expand their market share further with the improvement of plant quality.
The company has just been awarded ISO 9001/2002 accreditation, which, along with the recent appointment of a dedicated Quality Assurance Manager, will help with its quality systems.

This year’s sales have mainly been Elsanta, but a significant amount is of Everest, which still seems to be controlling the market. Hargreaves has a number of exciting varieties under expanded trial this year - one of the most encouraging of which is Albion, an alternative to Diamante.

The renewed interest in raspberries comes from growers who have clearly indentified the peak of the season as different to the shoulders either side. These areas have traditionally shown a shortage of fruit. Hargreaves has worked hard to find new varieties to fill these gaps and the early primocane Polka, launched 18 months ago, spans August to October. Half a million canes have been dispatched this year, a huge increase on last year, which will be a big benefit during the autumn window.

Unit now there has been a relative lack of understanding of what constitutes a good quality long cane raspberry. Hargreaves has invested in research over the last two years and Scott Raffle from ADAS made their findings public knowledge at November’s soft fruit conference in Ashford, which revealed the importance of cane low-density production techniques, good root volume, and good control of root disease.

2004’s incredible sales levels of blueberries, following massive amount of press coverage of their health benefits, seem set to increase this year. Rupert reports there was even more interest during early January this year than there was last summer. But he is also cautious that production needs to be controlled so the bubble does not burst and profits are maintained. Blueberries are attracting a lot of attention at the moment, both financially and in terms of new varietal trials. Hargreaves is the only UK nursery licensed to sell Liberty, Draper and Aurora,all northern highbush varieties developed by Jim Hancock at Michigan university, and all deemed the most exciting across the USA. There is currently a 2-3 year waiting list for these varieties as the USA has seen 40% growth in blueberry sales year-on-year.

Hargreaves is also busy with its 183 selected lines of green, white and purple asparagus and its new variety trials as well as the new, purpose- built micro-propagation laboratory which handles 2 million plants, mainly soft fruit with some ornamentals, every year (pictured below). This has enabled the company to bring the majority of micro-propagation in-house and has brought new business to the company. Additionally Jane Fairlie was recruited recently. Bringing lots of expertise from her previous position at SCRI-MRS in Scotland, Jane is managing trials from breeders all over the world and R&D for Hargreaves; all signs that the company is serious about the business.

Spring 2005