Fourayes dedicates high-tech 'shed' to former MD

Apple grower and processor Fourayes has invested £1 million in a Dynamically Controlled Atmosphere storage facility at its site in Bicknor, Kent.

With a capacity of 1,000 tonnes, the new unit is the only one of its type in the UK for a Bramley apple processor, using finely-tuned computer technology to monitor apple stress and adjust CO2 and oxygen levels accordingly.

This ensures the Bramley apples respire at the minimum level possible and can be kept fresh for up to 12 months before processing.

Part-funded by a grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the facility was officially opened by local MP Helen Whately on 7 September, who jokingly referring to it as a “shed”.

The MP for Faversham and Mid Kent dedicated the building to the company’s former managing director John Acock, the late father of current MD Phil Acock. The second of three generations of the family to have owned and operated the business, John was described by the company as a “manufacturer, farmer and apple-processing pioneer”.

Whately said: “Agriculture is a wonderful combination of traditions and generations of knowledge and also modern technology… Only by having a successful fruit growing industry can people eat affordable high-quality British food and also because there are local jobs and the local economy depends on it.”

The new facility stands on the site of the original Fourayes factory where the processor peeled its first Bramley apple in 1963. Back then, the process involved hand-powered machines for peeling and coring, with the resulting ‘snowballs’ being pass to an army of ‘trimmers’ who would trim out defects and slice the apples.

The apples would then be placed in plastic bowls not dissimilar to washing up bowls for packing and despatch.