Mansfields: Crop and weather summary

June 2007
“Flaming June”… Remember those long, warm, sunny days in the summer...? Well, not this summer so far. It is easy to forget that the first half of June was with a fine and warm start, although lacking notable hot days or prolonged sunny periods. The rains did not start until the 12th or 13th, but most parts of the country have had some rain, little or much, on every single day since then. Some regions of the country received 300-400% above average rainfall for the month, setting their wettest June on record. Sunshine was generally below average across the UK, with some areas having their dullest June on record. This weather did not reflect very well on the crop and because of the very heavy rains we have lost about 30% of our cherry production due to splitting. The dull weather has also delayed the development of our everbearer strawberry varieties- at present our production is a week behind. But on the other hand the apples and the pears are growing well, with both- a good crop load and sizing, as they have taken up a lot of water. Slowly but surely we have begun the cherry picking, varieties like Summit and Sylvia are already on the shop shelf. We have also finished our early main crop of Elsanta strawberries. Thinning of plum crop was completed in June, and apple thinning begun at the end June and will continue into July.

About Us

Located in Kent, the Garden of England, Mansfields is one of the largest growers and packers of top, stone and soft fruit with over 35 years of experience. The family run business is the biggest UK apple grower and the largest UK cherry grower, whilst also growing pears, plums and strawberries in significant volumes. Mansfields is one of the only UK top fruit operations that is expanding both fruit production and packing facilities. The company comprises of over 3,000 acres of top fruit (dessert apples, culinary apples and pears), stone fruit (cherries and plums) and soft fruit (strawberries), which are grown on 15 locations in Kent at varied geographic locations in order to extend harvest seasons and to mitigate weather related risk. The main storage and packing site is located at Nickle Farm on the outskirts of Chartham village, six miles south of Canterbury on the A28

Corporate Social Responsibility

Mansfields seeks to recognise our responsibilities to our suppliers, customers, and staff and the way we impact on our social and physical environment. We have adopted a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy (CSR) to position ourselves as a leading company in the provision of English fruit that meets the very high social and environmental expectations of our customers. Our CSR strategy details our visions, governance, structure and management systems and our key targets and objectives. We have set objectives and targets against our key environmental, social and economic priorities.