A new scheme aims to raise awareness of the many fresh produce varieties that were developed in the UK, in particular its rich heritage in berries.
When the British season in raspberries ends, often the Spanish-grown Glen Lyon takes up the baton to keep consumers happy over the winter. However, shoppers may not be aware that when they put a punnet of these raspberries in their basket they are still buying British.
The Glen Lyon variety was developed by the Scottish Crop Research Institute (now the James Hutton Institute), based in Dundee. Glen Lyon is sold under license and the royalties that are collected go back into plant breeding research.
In order to raise more awareness that shoppers can still be supporting the British fresh produce industry even when buying products grown overseas, the James Hutton Institute, in partnership with its commercial arm Mylnefield Research Services, has launched the Bred in Britain campaign. The promotional push has made available designs for labels and literature that growers of British-developed varieties can use free of charge.
Dr Nigel Kerby, MRS director, says the idea for the campaign was conceived post-Olympics with the intention of capitalising on the surge of interest in British food.
“We understand that there is a lot of competition for space on packaging but we’re hoping that supermarkets will run with this campaign and use it as a way of showing customers they can still back British even when a UK season is over,” says Kerby. “The royalties then go into helping to fund very important research that benefits the whole of the UK fresh produce industry.”
Kerby gives the example of the work being carried out into addressing the issue of ‘hangerbility’ in blackcurrants. Researchers are looking into ways to help the blackcurrant bush hold onto more fruit, so that it does not drop berries as they ripen, meaning growers are not losing fruit and potential profit.
Dr Rex Brennan, senior fruit breeder at JHI, says they are also working on blackcurrant varieties that are resistant to the reversion virus spread by the gall mite. However, Brennan adds that along with finding solutions for higher yields, plant breeding science is also helping to find ways of better pest control, disease resistance and how to meet the increasingly extreme weather challenges created by climate change.
He explains: “We are facing a world where there is a perfect storm of increasing population and climate change, which is threatening food security. Plant breeding can address a lot of the issues, such as growing more from less and growing more nutritious food.”
As well as commercial growers getting on board, Kerby says there is a lot of opportunity with amateur gardeners especially as within licensing agreements MRS has a say on what information is put on packaging.
With British fresh produce so high on the public agenda, the campaign is yet another way for the UK fresh produce industry to raise its profile among consumers.
