The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Innovative cherry grower wins M&S award
PERTHSHIRE: Family has adopted new techniques to extend the supply of produce
A Perthshire fruit grower who has adopted innovative techniques to extend the supply of Scottish cherries into October has won a “champion of champions” award from Marks & Spencer.
Matthew McIntyre’s family has been growing soft fruit at Wester Essendy near Blairgowrie for more than a century and the business now extends to 125 acres of fruit, including 40 acres of cherries which the business started producing in 2013.
Matthew won the regional category of the M&S Farming for the Future awards earlier this year and has now been judged the overall winner out of 10 regional finalists.
The business, run by Matthew and his father Euan, uses the Sweetheart and Sentennial cherry varieties from Canada which are late fruiting and better suited to the cooler Scottish climate.
It means fruit can be picked into September, long after the season finishes in England.
What won Matthew the award for making a difference to his industry was his investment in a centralised packing facility at Blairgowrie Fruit Packers with a controlled atmosphere storage system which has extended cherry storage by another four to five weeks.
The new system sees pallets of cherries individually wrapped and monitored, allowing pallets to be opened one at a time when the fruit is required instead of being stored in one large consignment.
Traditionally all cherries in the consignment would have to be moved on to retailers within a relatively short period of time.
Judges said they were impressed with Matthew’s forward-thinking approach to extending the British cherry season.
M&S horticulture manager Andrew Mellonie described Matthew as a great example of someone who was looking to push the boundaries of his enterprise to create a business that makes the most of both location and available technology.
Matthew’s prize is a place on the company’s five-day agricultural leadership programme which is worth £4,500.
He added: “M&S noticing our effort and innovation shows how closely they work and appreciate their suppliers.”
Andrew Houstoun, 26, who works in partnership with his parents David and Morag, at Glenkilrie Farm in Blacklunans, took home the company’s young producer award. He impressed judges with his commitment to farming in balance with the local environment and implementing new ideas to improve the long term sustainability of the family farm which runs 160 suckler cows and over 1,000 breeding ewes.