Garden Of Elveden is a specialist fresh produce business, and is based on the 22,500 acre Elveden Estate in the heart of the East Anglian farming region. With direct access to some of the U.K.’s finest potato crops, Garden Of Elveden offers a complete range of potatoes to retailers, wholesalers, caterers, restaurants and processors.

The Garden Of Elveden brand is a celebration of the finest British potatoes, available all year round. Since its launch in 2009 the range has grown steadily, now including the following products:

• Baby salad potatoes
• Baking potatoes (of all sizes)
• New potatoes
• Maris Piper potatoes
• Chipping potatoes
• Pre-packed potatoes

Garden Of Elveden products are all packed in Suffolk, as close to the source as possible, in collaboration with neighbouring growers. The Elveden Estate, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, has an area equivalent to over 15,000 football pitches and includes over 10,000 acres of farmland. The free draining soils are used to grow a wide range of crops including potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips. The Elveden Estate is a Red Tractor and LEAF Marque farm, committed to improving farming and the environment. The Elveden Estate farming operation now also extends to other farms in the UK.

The Elveden Estate has been privately owned by the world-renowned Guinness family since 1894 with Rupert Guinness, great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, transforming the lands for agricultural use in 1927. Prior to the Guinness family, the estate was owned by the Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire.

D & F McCarthy we were one of the first local companies to begin working with Garden Of Elveden in 2009 and the businesses have developed a steady and trustworthy relationship since. By working in partnership the Garden of Elveden brand has been introduced into local shops and restaurants. On a recent visit to the Elveden Estate, McCarthy’s met with Neil Beeton and Ruth Bell, to ensure the produce and relationship we have continues to be developed for the benefit of our customers.

D.E. Brand and Sons Ltd is a family-owned Brassica company founded in Surfleet, Lincolnshire in the late 1960’s by Derek Brand. The business has now been developed by both sons, Richard and Simon, into an industry leading farming and packing operation. Both sons are heavily involved in the day to day running of the company. D E Brand and Sons Ltd have been supplying the UK market for over 30 years with over 1300 acres of the best Lincolnshire silt land directly opposite the packing facilities meaning the freshness of the crop is second to none. Plans to extend the facilities and farm land at D E Brand are in progress meaning the company is looking to grow and expand for the increasing market.

The business provides the complete package, having experts in varietal development, crop management, harvesting, product care, distribution and category management. D E Brand and Sons have been working with McCarthy’s since the summer of 2013 growing, packing and supplying quality Cauliflowers, Broccoli and a range of Cabbages.

THE GREENEST RED TOMATOES YOU CAN FIND

We have been working with fellow family business Guy and Wright since they began in 1928. Based in Hertfordshire, they grow tomatoes for nine months of the year. Not just any tomatoes, but eco- tomatoes! They are grown from using heat, generated from bio fuels.  The Anaerobic Digester scheme at Guy and Wright is unique in that it is the only commercial unit in the world where the biogas combined heat and power exhaust is cleaned to provide CO2 for tomato growing in Greenhouse. So not only does it provide renewable heat and power but also renewable CO2. The Co2 is then trapped in the greenhouses to enhance the quality of the tomatoes even further! Guy and Wright recently won the Energy Now Expo 2016 ‘Best Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Scheme’.

Q: What is your end goal?

A: We unfortunately cannot expand on the bio gas side of things as they are at capacity; however there is possibility of expanding on the growing side as there is enough land to do so. Instead, we are looking to diversify, moving more into biomass, with our motto ‘diversify or die’. Looking into the future, we are looking towards constructing a semi-closed greenhouse, using the boilers to blow in chilled air meaning greater temperature control during periods of hot weather.

Q: Like us, you’re a family run business. Do you have any more generations lined up to take over?

A: Our son, Robert, is heavily involved in the bio mass side of the business. Our daughter Kate is also involved, in control of admin with my wife Caroline. Robert has children, however they are too young to think about taking over just yet. We also have staff living on site of EU backgrounds.

Q: Tomatoes are your speciality, but have you got any ideas to expand and start growing more eco fruit and veg?

A: At the moment we are not looking to expand with any more fruit or vegetables, however if there is a market for a product then I am happy to explore this!

Q: You grow various tomatoes, which is your favourite and why?

• Santasian- mini plum
• Encore- classic round fruit
• Piccollo – zesty cocktail cherry

A: Piccollo is the most sweet and red in colour of the different varieties of tomatoes and sells well. As well as selling to wholesalers, we also have a stall outside of our house selling grade 2 tomatoes and other varieties to passing trade.

Q: Appropriate technology involves using technology equivalent to a country’s development. Why do you believe that growing tomatoes using bio fuel is the way forward in the fresh produce industry here in the UK?

A: I believe that producing a healthier product in a better working environment, making it cleaner and safer for the consumer, is the way forward. It is also environmentally friendly, as no pesticides are used, meaning it is a sustainable way of growing tomatoes!

Nationwide Produce have been one of the major suppliers to McCarthys for almost 20 years. Established as Bernard O’Malley & Co almost forty years ago, the company has seen itself expand from a home-run business into a multi-national affair, with operations in Spain and the Netherlands as well as the UK. In 2012/13 alone, the group, comprised of 5 divisions, reached a combined turnover of 110m, selling 163 different types of produce to 813 customers in 25 countries and buying produce from 707 suppliers in 66 countries.

They supply McCarthys with freshly harvested produce from their own farming operation and grower group, Richmond Farms. Under the Richmond Farms banner, they grow 340 acres of root crops in East Anglia and Lancashire, and the grower group now has 23 members and 37,000 tonnes of dedicated root crops. Linked to this is Richmond Farm’s own production facility, a 40,000 sq ft grading & packing factory on 8 acres at Long Sutton, Lincs.

Along with his family, David has been a valued and reliable supplier for over 10 years, producing fresh, locally grown crops from his site near Norwich. Having farmed salads for over 50 years, David worked as a manager for Tustings in Cringleford for almost twenty years, joining in 1962. After moving on, he decided to take things into his own hands and set up his own smallholding in Felthorpe during the 80s.

However, ten years ago the glass houses were moved, and now, located in Newton St. Faith, David grows his produce less than ten miles from our distribution centre at Manor Nurseries. Using this wealth of experience to oversee both the 2nd and 3rd generations of family in the business, he grows both early and late lettuces including Lolla Rossa, Oakleaf and Cos, as well as celery during early summer months. He also provides our ever-popular local Little Gem lettuces, and with a full acre of glass house at his disposal, he is enabled to do so from March, right through until the end of November.

The Caffarelli family have been a committed supplier to our business for years, bringing in the best in quality regional produce straight from their site in Cambridgeshire. Originally trading as G. Caffarelli, the business has been a strictly family affair since its establishment over 45 years ago. Originally run by Joe and his father back in the 1960s, Mark is now the 3^rd generation of Caffarelli to take the reins, working alongside his wife Dawn and son Harley, the first of the 4^th generation.

Specialising in fresh hand-picked and packed lettuces and cucumbers, Caffarelli’s manage over 10 acres of arable farmland, of which 1½ is dedicated to hydroponically controlled glass houses to help maintain the quality and superiority of their cucumber crop.

To help ensure the future of the business the family has invested heavily in their infrastructure, spending £250,000 on an EBTECH Solutions Biomass Plant to transform the environmental impact of the business, which – along with a range of benefits – will help cut down their carbon footprint. A state of the art computer system has also been installed on the farm, giving the family greater control over the heating, ventilation and irrigation of the site.

These green credentials will ensure the business will survive well into the future, as increased pressure on businesses to deliver sustainable and environmentally responsible projects will mean the difference between securing customers in a hugely competitive market. To this end, Caffarelli’s are moving towards producing Pesticide free crops (in adherence to AGRALAN’s Biological Control planned regime) which, along with the investments highlighted above, will secure a longer season of fresh produce with the added benefit of delivering higher quality goods to their customers.

Nick Gilford (pictured above) is the Commercial Director of Frederick Hiam Ltd, who works alongside the current Chairman Christopher Wilson – Great Grandson of Sir Frederick Hiam; the man who originally founded Frederick Hiam Ltd. in 1925.

They farm around 9000 acres in total from the light soils of Thetford and Breckland to the heavy black soils of Ely and the Cambridgeshire Fens; supplying us with potatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips and beetroot (the complete range of their crops also extending to sugar beet and cereals) that come into our premises almost daily.

The business has a large modern pack house and onion grading facility based just outside Brandon, Suffolk and the business is able to guarantee continuity for its customers by supplementing locally grown produce with imports out of season for year round supply of its key lines.

Hiam’s manage nearly 1000 acres of woodland and have over 500 acres in stewardship schemes, with conservation and wildlife habitats being a priority for the business. These areas play host to a broad range of mammals and an impressive variety of birds, and everything from deer and otters to red kites make regular appearances across their farms.

The business also has 2 Dairy Farms in Pembrokeshire, each with a herd of Holstein Friesian Cows that produce over 6 million litres of milk a year.

The Place family have been one of our most valued suppliers for many years and, as the Managing Director, Tim Place is the third generation family member to run Place UK, a company that has been established for over 50 years.

Based just 8 miles from our Norwich distribution centre means that Tim’s produce is truly local, and about as fresh as you can get.

Place UK is a large operation, farming 1000 acres total with almost 400 acres dedicated to soft fruit. They also operate an international farm camp on site, which employs almost 500 workers at the height of the season. The scale of Tim’s operation guarantees a quality, continuity and professionalism that you would expect from one of the UK’s leading growers and processors.

Tim supplies us with strawberries from early May right through until the first frosts in late September or October, guaranteeing our customers the very best quality for about 5 months a year. Raspberries are another fruit that Place UK excel at, with picking possible (even if not entirely practical) almost until Christmas. January 2014 also saw the first picking of early forced Timperley rhubarb; a highly-prized product commanding premium prices.

Place UK’s operation is diversified, offering large volume food processing, freezing and storage on an industrial scale, in addition to their arable operation.

Find out more about Tim’s company at www.placeuk.com