The committee of the Marden Fruit Show Society (MFSS) are delighted to have brought back the National Fruit Show as a live event at the Kent Event Centre in Detling.
Ever evolving, the show has a number of new features this year as MFSS Executive Chair Sarah Calcutt oversees a series of exciting changes to the structure, governance and content of the annual industry get together.
The 2021 show was opened by the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Victoria Prentis MP (Cons, Banbury & North Oxfordshire), with NFU Vice President Tom Bradshaw also in attendance. The Minister met growers and toured the show, accompanied by other key figures including representatives of POs and the new ELMS programme.
The MFSS committee take their sustainability obligations seriously, and in a move to boost its environmental footprint the event has moved away from plastic packaging and will instead be using recycled and recyclable paper pulp punnets and tray liners.
The show’s return is being enthusiastically welcomed by the industry as a marker of ‘business as usual’ returning. Calcutt said: “The National Fruit Show is a much-loved industry event that delivers a useful and important forum for growers. We are determined that its new features – including the conference forum, new speakers and industry-led advice and support – really answer growers’ urgent questions. These are unprecedented times and we are doing everything within our power to ensure that the voice, and needs, of growers are heard by those with decision-making responsibilities.”
The show committee are expecting around 2500 visitors over the two days. There are 87 exhibitors in total to the show this year and 99 entries to the fruit competition.
The show dinner and dance concludes the first day and will once again take place together with the auction and industry Bonanza Prize.
Who’s exhibiting?
There are just under 90 exhibitors at the show and the team is delighted that many businesses who have supported the event for several decades have returned, while there are also a great number of new sponsors and exhibitors attending for the first time.
Following its debut at the show in 2019, The Hive returns to showcase new, entrepreneurial tech-led companies. Companies announced so far in this space are:
Crop desk – described as a ‘Match.com’ for seasonal workers and farms, David Trehane was on hand to explain how one of the leading recruitment apps can help your business.
OX Truck – how do you like the idea of a self-build and self-maintaining farm vehicle? You can configure your OX Truck as a flat-bed lorry, people carrier, or mobile workshop.
What was new at the show?
- On Day one there was a new conference event in partnership with the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, kindly sponsored by MHA MacIntyre Hudson. ‘How can Farmers go green when they are in the red?’
The event will see Master Fruiterer Laurence Olins chair a panel of speakers including PhD students and Nuffield scholars, with the session culminating with food policy expert Professor Tim Lang discussing the challenges of feeding Britain and the dichotomy of food and environmental policy.
- A new competition – Britain’s Tastiest Pear – was judged at the show alongside the existing favourite, Britain’s Tastiest Apple. Judges include Covent Garden Tenants’ Association Chair Gary Marshall, grower Peter Checkley, and John and Stuart Guest. A tray of the overall winner’s fruit will be included in the traditional basket presented to the Lord Mayor of London on 27th October at Mansion House, and the winner and their partner will also be invited guests of the Fruiterers at the lunch following the presentation. Samples of the winning entries will also be presented to her Majesty the Queen.
- New awards for 2021 included the Jon Jones Prize, endowed by the team he used to lead at Richard Hochfeld. The winner will be an individual who has worked consistently for the benefit of the industry as a whole, someone who has both excelled at their day job but also gone above and beyond to ensure fairness in all that they do. Nominations have now closed for 2021, but we would like to build a list for the future. The second new award was the Ian Johnson Award for Practical Innovation. This seeks a solution that doesn’t involve an app, nor a computer ideally, but offers a farm-driven solution to a troublesome problem faced by many in the sector. Ian was a very practical man who liked no-nonsense solutions and this prize pays tribute to such innovation.
Love Cider Competition 2021
Ahead of the National Fruit Show, the Love Cider competition took place in September. Unlike the trade-focused show, Love Cider is a consumer-facing contest open to all cider lovers who follow us on the show’s social media channels. The chair of judges this year was a well-known food broadcaster Nigel Barden, supported by drinks writer Melissa Cole and MFSS committee member Adrian Harris from NIAB EMR. The winners of the competition – which seeks to find the best ciders in three categories, Traditional, Blended and Pear/Perry – will be revealed at the show’s prizegiving event on Thursday. The judges tasted around thirty recommended ciders this year. In 2020, Kent Cider’s Yowler took the overall prize.
Something for everyone
For those wishing to top up their NRoSO and BASIS points, the BASIS team were on hand at reception to record all their details.
The event continued late into the night with the National Fruit Show dinner, a great night out with local seasonal food and music from industry band Bullshed (Nigel Jenner on drums is not to be missed!) The Bonanza Prize was awarded at the dinner – a £10,000 solar installation courtesy of new partner Harvest Green Developments. So with dinner, dancing, an auction and prize giving it’ was a great night out with friends and colleagues.