FRUIT GROWERS ALIANZA
22
THE CHERRY ON THE CAKE
> Peter Foster
Despite having been known and respected in the UK for more than ten years, Chilean fruit growers FGA (Fruit Growers Alianza) lacked one thing – English cherries. The company, an alliance between San Clemente and Gesex, added that missing ingredient in February 2020, when FGA Farming Ltd bought two farms near Faversham in Kent from F W Mansfield in a move that finally put the (English) cherry on the cake. As veteran grower Peter Foster – who jokes that he was ‘sold’ to FGA Farming along with Norton
Farm and Owen’s Court – is quick to point out, “English cherries are the best in the world, and this was the ideal way for the company not just to expand its season but to add to its range of top quality fruit.” While FGA Farming’s focus is very much on quality, the investment by Luis Chadwick and Andrew Wallace from Chilean business San Clemente also added scale to the operation. Overnight, the company became the largest cherry grower in the UK, producing around 25% of the entire UK crop from its two farms – and it
AUGUST 2021 | WWW.SOUTHEASTFARMER.NET
has since invested in extra land to further increase production. With farms in Chile, Peru and now the UK, production covers more than 5,000 hectares in total. When it comes to cherries, FGA can supply fruit all year round and across all continents, with Chilean fruit available from November to March and UK cherries on stream from late June through to August and even into early September. A network of global growers fill the other gaps, allowing FGA to deliver what Luis Chadwick has called “a full cherry year”. With cherries very susceptible to damage from
