British berries are booming at Hall Hunter Partnership  

Having first started in 1966 growing berries on their Heathlands Farm in Wokingham, which they sold into London markets, the business has since expanded tenfold.  

Now set across three farms in Berkshire and Surrey; Heathlands, Tuesley and Sheeplands,  Hall Hunter grows strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries that can be purchased in all major supermarkets.   

Managing partner Harry Hall took over the day-to-day running of the business from his parents, Mary and Mark, in 1997 and now runs the business with managing director, Jim Floor.  

An operation that spans across a total of 350 hectares of farmland, and it is only getting bigger, the team said.

All-time high for blueberries 

Hall Hunter revealed that the company is most proud of their blueberry crop. With blueberry demand in the UK now at an all-time high, increasing 25% in 2024, the business feels passionately about the importance of buying British blueberries. 

Currently the UK consumes 60,000 tonnes of blueberries annually, and only 10% of these are British, but Hall Hunter wants this to change.  

Earlier this year, Hall Hunter started developing Binton Farm, adding a further 85 hectares to their portfolio and allowing them to further expand their blueberry crop.  

For 2025 Hall Hunter will now be able to grow at least 20% more blueberries, making them responsible for nearly 50% of all British blueberries grown here in the UK, the company confirmed. 

Investment in technology 

Hall Hunter also continues to evolve the business beyond hectares. In 2024 alone, Hall Hunter has invested more than £2 million in technology, which has directly supported their growth through providing a more efficient harvesting and packing mechanism.  

Their AI grading machine is able to pack 40kg of blueberries per minute, 10 times the amount of any human.  

Furthermore, their Harvey 500 Harvester is able to harvest the fruit at a rate of 600kg/h, making for a more streamlined system and paving the way for further growth. 

The team said that growing berries requires energy. Managing energy costs while also being mindful of the environment is no easy task, so Hall Hunter has taken matters into their own hands.  

Having committed to an investment of over £3 million, this will create multiple solar energy solutions across their Berkshire-based Heathlands and Surrey-based Tuesley Farms. 

The initiatives include creating energy through the installation of rooftop and ground-mounted solar panels. This will enable Hall Hunter to manage their own energy costs and in time, ultimately save at least 75% on their energy bills.

‘Berry bountiful’ future 

Alongside technological innovation, Hall Hunter still remains a human business, and this too is an area in which they invest.  

In peak soft fruit season (May to August), Hall Hunter is responsible for 1500 employees, the majority of whom are their pickers and packers.  

A responsibility they take seriously, for summer 2024 Hall Hunter upgraded their employee accommodation, investing £200k in new caravans, the business said.  

Upgrading and improving their staff accommodation is an investment programme, which will continue into 2025 and beyond. 

The owners added that growing crop, contented workers and energetic innovation is Hall Hunters hat trick of business success. With a projected turnover of £50 million, Hall Hunter’s future is “berry bountiful”, the company clocluded. 

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