Mansfields: Crop and Weather Summary

September 2007

The quiet, dry weather of late-August continued for the first three weeks of September, becoming more unsettled by late September with rain at times, coupled with an active cold front crossing the country towards the end of the month. Much of the last week was notably cool, with winds from the northwest and north much more frequent than usual, and overall this was the seventh most 'northerly' September in 135 years of records. Mean temperatures were generally close to, or slightly above average, and rainfall was generally close to or below average
September is our main period of apple picking, causing it to be a very busy month at Mansfields- 70% of the crop is picked during September. It takes a lot of team effort and planning to ensure timely picking, transporting and storage of thousands of tonnes of fruit within a very limited time scale. The quality of the fruit is very good and the volumes are big. Also in September our last plum variety of the season, Marjorie, was picked, whilst strawberries continue to produce high volumes.

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.