The leading top fruit grower in the UK, Paul Mansfield is investing £7.5 million in making sure he stays in the number one slot for some time to come. South East Farmer talks to Paul Mansfield in the first of a three part series about his exciting Listening to the customer bears fruit investment in the UK fruit industry. A huge controlled atmosphere storage facility at the company’s Chartham headquarters in Kent, is set to add 6,500 tonnes of extra capacity to the Mansfields operation.
The development, which is being unveiled in several stages, includes an improved despatch area, a new 35,000 sq ft packhouse and new offices. The investment at Nickle Farm – On the A28 between Ashford and Canterbury reflects Paul’s confidence in the growing demand for locally-produced fruit. That demand, he feels, is based not on the whim of the consumer but on a sustained effort by the UK fruit industry to respond to what customers want.
“It wasn’t long ago that customers just wanted ‘apples’. Now they want Gala, or Braeburn or whatever variety happens to be their favourite. Just growing apples is not enough any more.”
Back in the early 90s, Paul recalls, local farmers grew Coxes. Just Coxes. And if you didn’t like Coxes then you couldn’t enjoy a locally-grown apple.
“Now we grow Gala, Braeburn and Cox, as well as new varieties such as Jazz, to meet the customers’ requirements. The whole industry realises that it needs to use forward planning to deliver what people want, rather than expecting them to eat what we grow.”
Whatever the variety, though, Paul is convinced that UK fruit leads the way. “We grow good, firm fruit that is high in sugar and has a good flavour. The UK climate is good for apples and the contrast between warm days and cool nights in the growing season gives them a good colour.” It is to meet the growing need for a quality product that Paul is investing such a huge sum of money in the state-of-the-art storage and packing facilities that are now taking shape on the site.
The building – big enough to the untrained eye to resemble an aircraft hanger rather than a fruit store – has been entrusted to leading players in the industry. The steel framed building is by Scorpion Engineering, insulated panels are by International Controlled Atmosphere (ICA), and John Haffenden’s team at Farm Refrigeration will be using the latest HFC- free Hycool secondary refrigerant to keep things cool. It’s a familiar team – and one that is working closely together to meet the challenge of a very tight schedule, guided by the expert project management skills of Page Associates.
“There are half a dozen or more companies working here, but you really wouldn’t know it,” said a clearly impressed Paul Mansfield during a tour of the busy building site.
“No-one is getting in anyone’s way, there are no squabbles over power or anything else and no-one is waiting for anyone to finish anything. I really have been amazed at just how well all these contractors have worked together to meet the deadline.”
That deadline was to have stage one – 50 per cent of the new storage capacity – up and running by 14 September, just 15 weeks after the start of the contract.