Fruit futures with Oli Pascall of Clockhouse Farm and Alana Deacon of Hall Hunter and chair of NextGen Fruit Group

HortWeek Podcast

This week's podcast guests are leaders in the UK fruit growing sector: Alana Deakin, the new chair of the NextGen Fruit Group and head of operations at Hall Hunter and Oli Pascall, MD of Clockhouse Farm and the NextGen past president.

They talk about their key takeaways from a recent visit to the USA including ag-tech, driven in part by scarcity and the high cost of labour, and where "they are definitely ahead of where we are in the UK" but also efficient water use, spearheaded in water-scarce California but also the use of branding and competition between large fruit brands.

Alana explains the aims of fruit farming group NextGen which despite its focus on the next generation of fruit farmers, is "not limited to that because we need the industry experts to come and teach the next generation".

The group unites people from across the various fruit-growing sectors to provide "cross-industry information that can be very, very useful" through networking events and farm visits.

"I think it's also good to solidify that with some proper scientific learning. So I'd like to introduce a few technical days" says Alana, who also has ambitions of creating the UK's first conference for fruit growers.

The group went to California to see how the US growers are coping with labour challenges.

The UK seasonal worker scheme is among the issues Oli and Alana want to see the new Labour Government address as well as industry funding and food and environmental policy.

After a particularly wet growing season in 2024, they reflect on how their crops have fared with blueberries enjoying the conditions in particular, a crop they both agree has significant potential for growth.

On strawberries, Oli says:

"I think, fair to say, prices over the past few years have been challenging, growth returns have been challenging as the industry has regularly reported. It's still challenging but it's a lot more manageable than it has been for the past couple of years. So we need to see continued increase in returns for the industry to be sustainable and get back to where it was a few years ago.

"I think we are going to see shortages of product throughout the season at certain points. And I know some of our customers are importing throughout the season as well. So that is showing a weakening of British supply throughout what has traditionally been a season fully catered for with local production."

Water supply is a major concern, says Oli who began a plan to build a reservoir a year three years ago with two more to go as part of his plan to ensure water security for his business. He is also aiming for Net Zero for 2040:

"As far as on-the-ground changes at the moment, I think we need to build growing structures that are suitable for changing climates. So we need to be ready for more variation in temperature, colder winters, hotter summers, and more set weather patterns."

As for the future, technology and innovation will play a large part, says Alana who has just installed a new grader with AI.

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