As of January 2024, NIAB’s entire strawberry breeding programme, including the varieties within the Malling Fruits portfolio, will be overseen by global biotechnology firm Bayer, as the company seeks to expand its fruits and vegetables business to strawberries.

The #GetFairAboutFarming campaign is encouraging the leading ‘Big Six’ supermarkets to adopt fairer principles for farmers – as research shows 49% of fruit and veg farmers fear closure within 12 months.

With a spotlight currently on improving sustainability in farming, Becky Sykes, programme director at the recently launched Regenerative Viticulture Trust, spoke to Fruit & Vine about how British vineyards could benefit from regenerative techniques.

Senior agronomists have announced that this year’s blackberry season has produced a very high-quality crop, sweeter and larger than their hedgerow counterparts. The work of UK growers has ensured a strong harvest this year, ensuring availability of blackberries through to November, with peak production now underway.

Wine nearly enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool has erupted from two tanks owned by Levira Distillery this Sunday, flooding the streets of the small Portuguese town of São Lourenco do Bairro, the Daily Mail reported.

Fieldwork Robotics, the company behind the world’s first raspberry picking robot, has secured £1.5 million in funding from investment firm Elbow Beach Capital (EBC) last month to enhance its technology and expand its reach.

Chapel Down’s new purpose-built winery is set to be complete by harvest 2025 and will have the capacity to produce six million bottles a year, placing its Canterbury site at the centre of the country’s thriving wine industry.

Vines have been planted to establish the first vineyard on the Harper Adams University estate – with the grapes potentially ready to produce wine within two years.

Fruit & Vine chatted with Worstead Estate co-owner Bruce Paterson about his plans for establishing a vineyard on his Norfolk site.

The wettest July since 2009 was a major concern for UK berry growers – blueberries are particularly sensitive to overly wet conditions. However, agronomists are delighted with how the crop has grown and stood up to the unseasonably wet weather – and they say that this is in large part thanks to bumblebees.

WineGB has announced the appointment of Nicola Bates as its new CEO, who will be taking over the role from former chief executive Simon Thorpe starting 30th October.

British Apples & Pears Limited (BAPL), the UK top fruit grower association, has announced an expansion of its existing Farming Innovation Pathways feasibility project to analyse the impact of British apples on the environment. The project is called: Supporting top fruits journey to Net Zero.