Aldi contract helps Fife soft fruit farm to invest and extend growing season
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Blacketyside Farm, in Leven, has supplied the cut price supermarket with berries since 2013.
And that on-going support has allowed the company to invest in its land.
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Hide AdBlacketyside Fruits supplied Aldi with 300 tonnes of their soft fruits last year - including strawberries, blueberries, and cherries.
Having started out as livestock farmers in Northern Ireland, Robert and Eleanor Todd re-located to Blacketyside Farm for its quality land and great coastal location
The family moved with the intention to grow cereals but decided to make the most of its ten acres to grow soft fruit instead.
Aldi’s continued support has allowed the family to invest heavily in its soft fruit business, and they now grow all their fruit in special polytunnels, which has helped to extend the growing season.
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Hide AdIt has also allowed the business to expand the range of berries grown, with Blacketyside Farm supplying Aldi stores in Scotland with delicious, home-grown blackberries for the first time this summer.
Eleanor Todd, co-founder and partner at R Todd & Co, said: “Being an Aldi supplier is very important to us.
“Knowing that we have a strong and loyal market for a significant volume of our soft fruit has really given us the confidence to invest in our business.
"We now have heated polytunnels which has helped us to significantly extend the berry season, meaning we can pick from April right through to October each year.
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Hide Ad“We have also just completed a new packing facility on the farm, and we simply wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for our work with Aldi. “She added: “We are a very proud local business and it’s fantastic to see Aldi being so committed to stocking the best Scottish produce.
“Scotland’s cooler summer temperatures and long daylight hours allow our soft fruit to ripen slowly, giving our berries a fantastic flavour.”
Graham Nicolson, group buying director, Aldi Scotland, said: “We are very lucky that we have Robert and Eleanor’s fantastic team on board to provide our customers with some of the very best.”