Scottish farmers report frutiful summer thanks to strawberry and cherry sales
There has been an increasing demand for soft fruits as shoppers strive to buy local, writes Rosalind Erskine
Scottish AVA strawberries and Perthshire cherries grown on a family farm are in high demand this year, despite the challenges of lockdown. AVA Berries have reported its strongest seasonal sales to date following the launch of a new marketing campaign shortly after lockdown was introduced. So far this year, almost 4.7 million punnets of AVA strawberries have been sold across the UK, an increase of over two million compared to this time last season.
The berries, which come from a group of growers on the north-east coast, offer the best in seasonal flavour, sweetness and quality. Due to lockdown, the brand had to rethink its promotion and marketing campaigns and worked with Scottish Kilted yoga instructor, Finlay Wilson and Masterchef 2019 finalist, Jilly Mccord, to raise awareness of the brand and demonstrate why AVA varieties offer the best in seasonal flavour.
Jill Witheyman, Marketing Manager at AVA Berries, commented: “When lockdown started, we had to completely rip up our summer 2020 marketing campaign and start again. We knew this was going to be a difficult time, not just for the British public but for our growers as well, so we had to get this campaign right. Looking at emerging trends, we focused our campaign on three core themes; spreading some summer cheer, looking after your mental and physical health at home, and enjoying moments of luxury while in lockdown.”
Sales of strawberries across the board are up 15.8 per cent, according to data recently released by British Summer Fruits.
AVA Berries supplies UK supermarkets and their strawberries are sold in the premium lines of Aldi, Coop, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s nationwide. AVA strawberries will be available until early October and the largest quantities of strawberries can be found in supermarkets in Scotland and the north of England.
Meanwhile, in Perthshire, West Jordanstone Farm and Muirton Farm have had their cherries picked up by Scotty Brand for the first time, and secured a listing with Asda supermarkets. More than 25,000 packs of Scottish cherries have been grown for Scotty Brand by Peter Marshall & Co, and these will be on sale in 56 of Asda’s Scottish stores.
The home-grown cherry season has thrived this year thanks to a warm spring. In June, the trade body Love Fresh Cherries reported the UK could expect a strong British cherry season harvest, following a similarly successful crop in 2019.
The Scotty Brand Scottish cherries are grown on the Marshall’s family farm, which is run by Rowan and Jennifer. The farm has been in the family for four generations and the fertile lands of Perthshire combined with the long summer days in Scotland are perfect for growing cherries and mean that the Scottish growing season is later than the English Season and fills a gap in the cherry growing world market.
Michael Jarvis, head of marketing at Scotty Brand, said: “Scottish cherries are renowned for being large, juicy and very tasty and we’re delighted to add them to our range for the first time and roll them out across Asda stores in Scotland.” Rowan Marshall said: “Many people don’t think of cherries being grown in Scotland, but we started growing them eight years ago. It’s a real rising star of Scottish fruit growing as the season is perfectly timed to compliment the global market. The slightly colder climate in Scotland means Scottish cherries are ready from late July, slightly later than the English season which usually finishes in August, and before other global cherry markets start to produce in great volumes.”
Scotty Brand cherries come in 200g punnets and are available in selected Asda stores now.