insideKENT Magazine Issue 33 - December 2014 | Page 82
FOOD+DRINK
WINNERS OF THE
TASTE OF KENT
AWARDS TOP FRUIT
CATEGORY
ANNOUNCED
The winners of Produced in Kent’s Taste of Kent
Awards 2015 Garden of England Champion Top
Fruit Category, sponsored by BTF Partnership,
was announced this October at the National Fruit
Show at Kent County Show Ground.
Produced in Kent’s panel of public judges tasted
134 apples and pears from 13 varieties of apple
and four varieties of pear on display at the National
Fruit Show. Judges were required to rank the
fruits’ flavour, juiciness and crispness, with the
top 10 apples and top five pears going through
to a second round, before finding an overall
winner.
The winners are:
Garden of England Champion Top Apple:
Jazz Variety
Simon Bray, Monks Farm
Norton, Nr Sittingbourne
Garden of England Champion Top Pear:
Concorde Variety
Clive and Richard Edmed
Horsmonden, Tonbridge
L-R - Richard Thomas, BTF; Richard Edmed, Winner; and Tim Thatcher, BTF
Stephanie Durling at Produced in Kent,
commented: “Congratulations to the winners.
The competition this year has been extremely
close once again. Whilst supermarkets continue
to focus on fruit appearance, the Garden of
England Champion Top Fruit category is all about
finding the tastiest apples and pears in Kent. The
fruit on display at the show looked amazing and
we focussed our judges’ attention on the flavour
of the fruit, alongside the crispness and the
juiciness of the fruit. We were delighted with the
success of the new T
aste of Kent Awards Garden
of England Champion categories when they were
introduced in 2014, and the 2015 award has
been equally successful."
Richard Thomas, partner at BTF Partnership,
commented: “We are delighted once again to
sponsor these awards and the quality of fruit is
excellent thanks to a bumper harvest. Whilst it
might be a tougher than average year for growers
because of lower prices in the market, we hope
English shoppers will recognise the great flavour
and quality of English top fruit and look out for
it when shopping.”
Public voting for the Taste of Kent Awards 2015
is now open. To cast your vote, visit
www.tasteofkentawards.co.uk before 2nd
January 2015.
HARVEST COMPLETE AT CHEGWORTH VALLEY
markets and through a home
delivery service across the country.
All of the fruit is handpicked, which
means the apples are harvested at
their optimum ripeness, giving them
the best flavour possible.
A large proportion of the apples are
used to make Chegworth Valley’s
award-winning range of fruit juices,
which includes single varietal juices
such as Cox, Egremont Russet, and
Bramley, as well as blends using
other fruit and vegetables grown on
the farm such as strawberries,
raspberries, and beetroot.
Chegworth Valley produces over
two million bottles of juice each year
,
including a range of five certified
organic juices.
Apple and pear harvest is now complete at Chegworth Valley following
a full two months of picking. The Kent-based farm, near Harrietsham, has
plantings of over 75,000 apple and pear trees, made up of over 20 different
varieties.
Harvest began back in August for early varieties such as Discovery, and
continued through each variety as they ripened. Bramley apples have had
a particularly successful harvest – on one day, a record-breaking 200-plus
bins were picked.
Proprietor, David Deme,
commented: “This year, harvest has
been very good and the trees have
been laden with fruit. We’ve been
very lucky to have ideal weather
The apples are sold direct from the farm at Chegworth Valley’s own shops
(one at the farm gate and the other two in London), as well as via farmers’
82
throughout the year, from blossom
in the spring right through to the
fruit ripening in the summer, and
harvest over the last couple of
months.”
Pruning has now started at the farm,
along with the planting of a further
9,000 trees over the coming winter,
and another 13,000 at the end of
2015.
A fan of Chegworth Valley's delicious
produce? Show the farm your
support by voting for it in the Taste
of Kent Awards 2015 Kent Juice
Producer category. You can vote at
www.tasteofkentawards.co.uk
before 2nd January 2015.
For further information on
Chegworth Valley, visit
www.chegworthvalley.com or call
the farm direct on 01622 859272.