Mansfields: Crop and Weather Summary

July 2007

Mean temperatures were generally close to or slightly below average. Most of the showers were often very heavy and thundery with some areas experiencing localised flooding due to the intensity of the rain. The very last few days of the month brought a change in weather type with a few dry and sunny days for most places. Mid July we experienced quite a few storms with hail, causing some significant damages to our crop
Cherries are have finished, we had a good crop volumes but is was a challenging season with a lot of waste due to the wet weather.
All plums have developed a week earlier than previous season, as have all crops this year. The early plum Opal is a good sample on size, colour and sugars. Jubilium a larger fruiting plum produced a good quality crop as well.
Strawberries - new planting of Albion coming on stream with good quality and volumes. The second crop of the table tops has been planted and it is being established, the first pick is expected in mid August.
The First of the English season apple Discovery, a traditional early red dessert variety, was picked at the end of July- fantastic colour and quality.

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.