Soft Fruit Grower of the Year 2004

National co-operation hopes

Achievements and plans…

Andrew Boxall’s range of strawberry varieties includes proven names Elsanta, Everest, Diamante and Flamenco.

He believes Flamenco looks promising and is pleased with the amount of R & D going into the variety at places such as Reading University. He also likes the relative newcomer Diamente. It has an even size and crops well, filling a gap in the growing cycle. He believes it has a better flavour then Everest and a nice look.

Although he also grows Tulameen, Joan Squire and Polka raspberries he leaves them to an experienced manager away from the main farm, at Hawkenbury.

“I like to concentrate on strawberries. We have no problems selling strawberries but raspberries are more difficult” he says.

The tunnel produced 1.1 tonnes of fruit off the three rows, equivalent, he said, to 11.5 tonnes/acre.

Andrews blacksmithing past has helped him develop a table top system for growing strawberries in substrate which he says helps control vine weevil in the crops.

Vine weevil is a big problem in Andrew’s part of the world which prompted the move into substrate growing. His table-top design uses galvanised metal legs which puts the weevils off climbing.

“We have never had a problem with vine weevil since,” he says.

The latest venture Andrew is involved in is the design of a new punnet for strawberries and cream. It is designed for people to eat the fruit ‘on the run’.

Andrew also grows Bramley, Cox and some Egremont Russet and has recently been granted permission to build a packhouse which he plans will handle 100% English sourced fruit with 15 full-time staff.

He aims for 2,000 tonnes of apples/year and 1,000 tonnes/year strawberries.

Andrew also finds time to support charities. He raised £300 for Children in Need by having his legs and chest waxed.

Larry Saunders talks to the winner of the Field Soft Fruit Growers of the year Andrew Boxall

Andrew Boxall didn’t originally set out to be a grower. His original career choice was smithying, he trained at a farrier’s for a year. His family farm in Kent started to expans and he decided to go to horticultural college and join his father working on the farm.

“My family had been farming in Kent since the 1930’s and I have been actively working at the farm since I left college in the early 80’s. I still have a love of bashing metal around” he says.

Perhaps it helps him alleviate his frustrations with the lack of co-operation in UK fruit marketing? He gets visibly exasperated on the top of “this industry’s politics”.

“What it needs is for all the marketing groups to get on together and trade. It would be nice if they could all speak to one another and work as a team in the industry – I feel that is vitally important. It is infuriating that they don’t” he says.

“Co-trading like that makes sense. One supermarket might be full of fruit and another might not have enough. They then buy imported fruit when there is no actually need to because they can get it all from this country. This would obviously have great benefits to all British growers.”

H A Boxall’s sells to ASDA through category manager AMS. It also sells through Well-Pict European to other supermarkets.

Another aspect of his business Andrew is passionate about is local produce and the reduction in ‘air-miles’. He fully supports the campaign of ‘Produced in Kent’ alongside Kent County Council which he describes as a “brilliant scheme”. Numbers involved are rising all the time with a total well over 600 today.

“People want locally grown produce. I read somewhere that people of 32 years old and above, actively set out to buy locally grown produce. That’s a big chunk of the population.”

Today H A Boxall & Son, Griffins Farm, is run in partnership with Andrew’s father, who although retired still retains an interest.

The size of the farm has slowly increased since it was first bought in the ‘30’s. It now has 134 acres excluding raspberries grown at a farm in Hawkenbury.

The 134 acres include extensive top fruit and strawberries. Although there are only seven acres of strawberries they generate turnover equivalent to the 110 acres of top fruit.

Looking to the future Andrew Boxall said he hopes the multiples will help British growers, giving the returns necessary to maintain a supply of good British top fruit. He also hopes for a time when british marketers stop fighting between themselves.

But despite the perennial problems which beset any sector of business Andrew is still optimistic for the future.

“Growing isn’t a challenge” he says. “You have to set goals, dreams don’t come true unless you chase them.”