Page 28 - Simply Veg Spring 2019

National Fruit Show
Kelvin Mason FNVS
In October I visited the 85th National Fruit Show held at the Kent Event Centre near Maidstone in Kent.
This is a show aimed mainly at the commercial growers and wholesalers although the general public can attend. The purpose of the show is to show case the best of British apples and pears and there are a few stands of machinery, agrochemical companies and related suppliers of interest to growers.
Unlike most shows the exhibits are not just four or five fruits staged on a dish or plate but cardboard boxes of fruit of the type sent to the wholesale markets and supermarkets. Each exhibit consists of three boxes of
one cultivar and each box hold approx. 30 apples or pears. There were 26 classes of made up of culinary and eating apples and also pears as well as heaviest apple and pear classes. Examples being:
• Class 1 Bramley 90 to 100mm diameter 3 boxes
• Class 2 Bramley 80 to 90mm diameter 3 boxes
• Class 3 Any other variety of culinary apple 75 to 100mm diameter with 5mm differential
• Class 4 Coxes Orange Pippin or any sport of Cox 65 to 70 mm diameter
• Class 8 Gala or any sport of Gala 65 to 70mm diameter
• Class 13 Comice 70 to 75mm, 75 to 80mm or 80 to 85mm diameter
• Class 14 Conference 60 to 65mm or
65 to 70 mm diameter
• Competition for the 5 heaviest
Apples, special prize for the single
heaviest apple
• Competition for the 5 heaviest Pears,
special prize for the single heaviest pear.
Bramley seedling
There were also classes for cider, perry, blended apple juices and nuts.
As in most shows there
are prizes for the winners
usually first, second and
third although some
classes had fourth as
well as best in sections,
best in show and highest
points and similar awards.
The prizes were mainly
cups, trophies and medals
and some had money awards
as well. For most growers it is
the prestige of winning that counts
as you can put that on your advertising literature and impress the buyers.
There were classes for the five heaviest apples and five heaviest pears and then the heaviest individual fruit out of the five. The results of this competition is set put below:
centre were there promoting their new orange skinned apple called Sunburst which was available in Waitrose supermarkets last
Heaviest Apples 2018
Weight in grams
2017
Weight in grams
1st R.H. Nightingale
4465 gms
1st Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
5495
2nd Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
4017.5
3rd Ben May
3730
Heaviest Apple
976 gms
Derrick May (Farms) Ltd
1361
Heaviest Pears 2018
Weight in grams
2017
Weight in grams
L. Stevens and Sons
5002.5
L. Stevens and Sons
4296.5
Leckford Estate
2800
Derrick May (Farm Ltd)
2496
Heaviest pear
1174 gms.
L. Stevens and Sons Ltd
1004g
The 2017 heaviest pear was a comice and autumn. As well as an orange skin it has
the heaviest apple a Bramley.
The fruit are judged to set criteria a bit like
pointing a collection as can be seen below:
pinkish flesh inside and the sample I tasted was juicy, sweet and crisp; possible one to look out for in the future.
Maximum points
Points awarded
Freedom from pests and disease
20
Freedom from bruise and other damage
20
Internal condition (including Bitter Pit, etc.)
15
Skin quality
15
Uniformity of colour
15
Uniformity of size (and evenness of shape)
15
Total
100
The winning scores were very high with some scoring 95 out of a 100, not much room for error if you over score!
As can be seen from the photographs most of the exhibits are of red skinned apples as this tends to be what the British public buy. There were a few green and yellow skinned apples and also some russets which tend to be a bit of a niche market. Interestingly NIAB / East Malling research
Whilst on the subject of fruit skins, something I did not know was how much influence the rootstock can have on the skin quality and colour.
If you live within reasonable traveling distance the National Fruit Show would be worth a visit in the future. It is usually held in the third week of October and details can be found on the internet.
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Black Worcester Pear