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Our growers have generations of experience in growing some of the world’s finest fruit and pride themselves on the fact that this is grown in the ‘Garden of England’.

What we Grow

1 Apples

Cox
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 190 hectares producing 4,300 tonnes of fruit. The Cox apple originated in England and can be traced back to 1865. It is a small to medium sized apple with creamy flesh and a strong, sweet and slightly acidic flavour. Kent grows more of this traditional apple than anywhere else in the world.

Bramley
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 150 hectares producing 4,200 tonnes of fruit. This fabulous culinary apple was discovered in Southwell, Nottinghamshire in the garden of local butcher, Matthew Bramley, in 1856. It is a very large, dark green culinary apple and accounts for 95% of all UK cooking apple sales. It is a very tart, firm apple, high in malic acid with strong apple flavour. It still retains good texture when cooked.

Gala
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 120 hectares producing 1,700 tonnes of fruit. Programme selection in the 1950s improved the variety but it didn’t become popular until the 1980s. Now Gala apples are the second most popular variety in the UK behind Cox’s. The skin colour is red striped over green/yellow with firm flesh and a sweet and juicy taste.

Rubens
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of 40 hectares producing 407 tonnes of fruit. This apple has a striking, striped or solid light red colour. Its taste is sweet like that of Gala, but more aromatic; its texture is more solid and crunchy than that of Elstar

Cameo
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of 15 hectares producing 195 tonnes of fruit. Colour varies quite considerably, from a basically dark red flushed apple to a pale green apple with orange flushes. The flavour has a hint of pear – similar to Red Delicious although this apple is a bit crisper than Red Delicious.

Braeburn
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of 44 hectares producing 688 tonnes of fruit. Braeburns are sweet with a hint of tart, and a firmness that stores well. These traits plus the fact that they bake well have made them a very versatile apple. Firm with smooth, clean skin and have good colour for the variety. Usually in season from October through to April

Egremont Russet
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 39 hectares producing 650 tonnes of fruit. This variety is an old English type with a very distinctive appearance with its light brown and russeted colour. The flesh is of a more dense texture with a nutty, sweet taste this is often said to be a connoisseur’s variety.

Spartan
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of 11 hectares producing 213 tonnes of fruit. The skin is of a dark-red almost purple complexion with white flesh. It is firm-textured with high levels of juice and a very sweet taste with a noticeable hint of passion fruit.

Discovery
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of 13 hectares producing 263 tonnes of fruit. This apple is acidic rather than sweet and can have a hint of strawberry flavour, although this is very variable. The colours are a fresh yellow-green, usually with dark red patches where the sun has caught it.

Fuji
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of .3 hectares producing 6 tonnes of fruit. Fuji is surely one of the more attractive modern apple varieties. Its main characteristic is the lovely pink speckled flush over a yellow-green background. It is also crisp and juicy, with dull white flesh which snaps cleanly. The flavour is predominantly sweet, very refreshing (especially if slightly chilled), but not particularly outstanding.

Katy
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of 2 hectares producing 93 tonnes of fruit. Katy is an attractive medium-sized apple, usually bright red in colour over a light green yellow background. The flesh is a pale cream colour, and on the softer side of crunchy. Katy is usually a very juicy, and when fresh from the tree the juice goes everywhere as you bite into it. It has a fairly mild apple flavour, a bit of refreshing acidity, and in a good year a hint of strawberry.

Other varieties
Mid Kent Growers also grow several other varieties in smaller quantities that often act as cross pollinators in their larger orchards and help to ensure excellent quality fruit, or are new varieties or in some cases are grown for juice. These varieties are: Beni Shogun, Crispin, Early Windsor, Estival, Falstaff, Golden Delicious, Grenadier, Howgate, Jonagold, Jonogored, Pride of Kent, Red Delicious and Worcester

2 Pears

Comice
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 10.5 hectares producing 169 tonnes of fruit. Originated in England during the mid 19th century and is a large, plump pear, pale green/brown colour which lightens when approaching full ripeness. Very sweet, creamy fruit, with a juicy and somewhat buttery texture.

Concorde
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 1.4 hectares producing 35 tonnes of fruit. This variety originated in Kent and was introduced in 1977. This variety is a cross between Conference and Comice. It is similar to Conference in appearance, but more russeted and is an exceptional sweet juicy pear, with full flavour.

Conference
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 80 hectares producing 1,542 tonnes of fruit. Another pear that originated in England, and was introduced in the late 19th century. It is a long green fruit prone to smooth russet on skin with a good flavour, sweet and juicy when ripe, with soft, grainy textured flesh.

Williams
Mid Kent Grower combined growing area of over 1.1 hectares producing 6 tonnes of fruit. Originating in England in the 18th century it has a pale green/yellow shape with a sweet, juicy fruit with distinct ‘pear drop’ flavour when fully ripe

3 Cherries

Kent is the home of British cherries, in total the county is accountable for the growing of 90% of the nation’s total amount of cherries. They offer great health benefits being high in Vitamin C, while they are also said to contain phyto-oestrogens will help prevent heart disease and fight against cancer. Two of the most popular varieties are Stella and Sunburst.

4 Plums

Opal
The fruit is medium-sized, coloured dusky red with a heavy bloom, becoming blue when overripe.  The fruit is at its best just before the colour changes to blue.  The plums ripen over a period of about 1-2 weeks. The flesh is straw-yellow and fairly juicy.  Opal is a free-stone plum – the stone falls away easily from the flesh and can have a wonderful aroma and excellent flavour.

Victoria
The skins will start to become a darker red rather than the more usual orange flushed colour when fully ripened: this gives it its best flavour- most popular English variety

Marjorie’s Seedling
The fruit is large, plum-shaped, and purple, becoming blue-black when fully ripe, with a heavy bloom and is overall very attractive. The flesh is greenish-yellow, juicy, quite coarse, and noticeably veined. The stone is clinging.

Reeve’s Seedling
A very large, round plum, of excellent, rich, juicy flavour, similar if not richer than Victoria. It has a red to rose coloured skin over green/yellow

Our Growers are

     A. R. Neaves & Sons Ltd       

      AJ & TD Bruce-Lockhart       

      Andrew Armstrong       

     Bardsleys & Son      

      Brogdale      

       Downingbury Farm       

      E & P Nicholls       

      FJ Adams & Son        

     G Charlton & Sons      

     G.H. Chambers      

    Rickards Farm     

     S Jenner and Sons     

     Simon Mount       

     Toll Fruit Farm      

    W & D Riccini      

    WM Skinner & Son     

     Ware Farm