Lew Roberts (left) of Riverside pictured with Tesco's technical manager for citrus, David Walton

Lew Roberts (left) of Riverside pictured with Tesco's technical manager for citrus, David Walton

Tesco has announced its South African citrus grower of the year. Riverside was bestowed with the honour at a ceremony held in Cheshunt.

The store encouraged all suppliers to nominate the top growers by scoring them across a range of categories. The awards, titled 'Excelling In' were also split into four categories: quality, Nature's Choice, new product development and social accountability.

Tesco's brought over the seven nominated growers for the event in a bid to show its support for the South African business.

Presenting the awards were Tesco's category manager for fruit and horticulture Sean McCurley, buying manager Wendie Scott and David Walton, technical manager for citrus.

Walton said the event was a great success. He said: We have had great feedback from the growers involved, who were delighted with the access of information we provided them with. The event was also used as an open forum for lively discussion on a range of issues concerning Tesco's and the growers. With both parties getting a lot from the event."