GROWING
Significant investment has been made in all aspects of the ACH Farming business in the last decade, particularly the fruit enterprise.
This has been achieved in a highly competitive environment where less and less growers are able to manage the after-orchard aspect of top fruit growing.
Tree fruit growing in the UK is going through a dramatic and exciting period of change. New technologies are driving our businesses forward and innovation is at the forefront of everything we are doing today, be that new growing techniques, precision farming or automation in all aspects of our operations.
HARVEST
Our tree fruit business is at harvest peak for 4 months of the year from late June through to late October.
We start with cherries and then move to apricots and plums with the apple and pear harvest taking place in the Autumn months which is the peak employment period for our business.
We have invested heavily in semi-automating our harvest operations in order that we offer our staff maximum earning capacity and that we can run an efficient harvesting operation. In 2022 we introduced our first Revo harvest rigs which we expect will make a significant difference over the coming years in all our harvest operations as the industry moves towards full automation.
All our fruit is delivered to on-site cold storage at Hoaden Court as it is harvested to ensure maximum quality and shelf-life for our customers.
COLD STORAGE
After harvest care is critical to everything we do. Our fruit is stored in highly efficient modern dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA) stores to ensure the fruit that leaves our farm is in the best possible condition when it reaches the end consumer.
There is a shortage of high quality cold storage in Kent and ACH Farming has invested in building sufficient modern DCA storage on site at Hoaden Court to enable it to store, grade, pack and distribute growing volumes of high quality tree fruit.
Our cold stores are all supported by roof mounted solar PV arrays which provides a renewable energy source to minimise the carbon footprint of our operations.
On farm storage at Hoaden Court now amounts to over 25,000 bins or 8,500 tonnes.
GRADING AND PACKING
In 2020 the business invested in a new purpose-built state of the art grading, packing and distribution facility at Hoaden Court.
Our packhouse is one of the few remaining all service packhouses in the UK tree fruit industry and includes:
- Complete solution for storage, grading, packing, marketing and distribution
- BRC global standard ‘AA’ / SMETA ethical audit accreditations
- Modern stock and warehouse facilities, including 4 loading docks for rapid and efficient distribution
- Bespoke stock system and print room software offering full traceability and transparency for both our growers and customers
- Apple and pear pre-grader with full internal and external quality capabilities and 22 water channel outlets
- Apple and pear grader for smaller production runs
- Water based infeeds offering high volume dedicated packing lines for top fruit bagging and tray/trayless flowrapping
- Specialist stone fruit weighing and packing with capability for heat-sealing and netting
SUPPLY CHAIN AND IMPORTS
We are a grower-packer and we look after your produce like it is our own.
We work with UK and overseas growers to pack and market their product which complements our own home-grown produce.
This enables our team to deliver the same quality and efficient service year-round and means we can supply fruit to our customers for 52 weeks of the year.
SUSTAINABILITY
Our family farms for tomorrow not today. This is our mission statement and this is how we think and farm. This is what sustainable means to us.
We make long-term land management and investment decisions, often choosing a higher cost solution which factors in the economic, environmental and social payback for all our stakeholders.
Our whole farm has long been both part of the Natural England Countryside Stewardship Agreements and LEAF Marque certified. Every day we seek to enhance our farmed environment. This doesn’t just improve biodiversity around our farm but it also benefits of all those involved in our business, including our customers.
Working in tandem with all our stakeholders we see agriculture as part of the solution to Climate Change rather than a cause of it. There is much that can be done here within global agriculture and we want to be at the forefront of addressing that challenge.
INNOVATION
For us innovation is coming up with good ideas, whether generated internally or externally, and putting them into practice in our farming operations and farmed environment.
We constantly seek to invest in new technology and ideas, supported by robust data, into each part of our business in order to make improved and more targeted decisions which in turn will drive better resource efficiency, productivity and yields of high quality food.
If you have an innovative idea you think we should look at we’d love to hear from you: innovation@achfarming.co.uk
