Blog – filming at Fourayes

A film crew recently arrived at Fourayes to film the orchards & the factory. Sadly, the ‘Contributor Consent Agreement’ precludes me from saying who they are or the programme they are filming for, but I think I’m ok to talk about some of the ways in which the filming got me thinking.

Firstly, the very fact that a film company wants to film us makes me feel immensely proud: of Fourayes, of our people and of the amazing products we manufacture here. We’ve been growing and processing fruit at Fourayes since 1953, and it’s immensely pleasing when our work is recognised; not least because it helps people learn where that great taste in their baked goods, desserts, mince pies and other treats comes from.

We, in fruit growing and processing, are traditionally the ‘secret’ ingredient to fantastic tasting products. You will rarely see our name on the product label or mentioned in advertising, but we’re always there and we have a great story to tell.

Firstly, we’re British. That means the majority of the fruit we process, including our amazing English Bramley apples, are grown in Britain. In the case of Bramley apples, we’re located at the very heart of the growing region so the distance our fresh Bramley apples travel to reach the factory is negligible. It means all that fresh Bramley apple taste and flavour gets captured straight away.

We’re also a third-generation, family-owned and family-run business. That gives us an enormous advantage: of course, we’ve been passing fruit growing and processing knowledge and expertise down to succeeding generations, but we’ve also been adding to it along the way. It’s part of the reason why today we are the UK’s number one grower and processor of fruit.

We also happen to specialise in growing for long-term storage (for all-year-round availability), the most incredible fruit on the planet – the Bramley apple.

Before 1809, the Bramley apple didn’t even exist. In that year, Mary Ann Brailsford planted some pips in her garden in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and the resulting tree was unlike anything that had come before. Today, every single Bramley apple tree in the world can be traced back to that very first planting. I can’t think of any other fruit with such a direct lineage to its parent. It certainly adds a new perspective to traceability.

Of course, traceability is another huge advantage of Fourayes location. When it comes to Bramley apples we know where every single apple is grown. We even inspect the fruit on the other farms we work with before we accept it into our factory. It’s part of the reason why our Bramley apples are found in the most amazing food products such as pies, pastries, cakes, buns and tarts. You’ll even find our Bramley apple in hot cross buns, thanks to Utterly Fruity, a way of preparing the fruit to retain its moisture, taste, flavour and texture that is unique to Fourayes. The same care and attention goes into all the other fruit we process here at Fourayes; whether that’s delicious Kentish raspberries or the mouth-watering strawberries that go into our famous Kentish Strawberry jam. These are processed within 48 hours to retain the incredible flavour that strawberries at their best are known for. We like to call it the ‘taste of an English summer’.

So, I can’t tell you why we’re being filmed or who is filming us, but I can say, in my opinion at least, that there’s a lot to see. It’s a wrap!

Phil Acock

Managing Director of Fourayes, Fruitician and Vice-Chair of British Apples & Pears.