Clock House Farm berries win at National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show
Clock House Farm is celebrating success once again at the National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show after its raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries won various awards.
The wins included two first-place prizes in the supermarket packs; earning the Pask Cornish & Smart Cup and title for Best Exhibit of Raspberries for their Driscoll’s Reyna variety and scooping first place for blackberries with Driscoll’s Victoria. The farm also took first place for raspberries in the primo cane variety class.
In addition, in the Supermarket Class, Clock House Farm was awarded second place for one single-layer case of raspberries, its strawberries. In the Taste of Kent, the farm took third place with its Driscolls’ Zara strawberries.
Judges at the event, which is held annually to showcase the best and award-winning soft and stone fruit produced by commercial growers across the U.K., said they were impressed with the range and high standard of the fruit in this year’s show, which took place July 13 at Macknade Food Hall in Faversham, Kent.
The show's organizers are sending a selection of award-winning fruit, including Clock House Farm’s Driscoll’s Reyna raspberries to Buckingham Palace, namely the King and Queen and Prince William and Princess Kate and family.
After the event, Oli Pascall, managing director of Clock House Farm notes, “We are delighted with the results – especially in view of the challenging commercial conditions of the last year - and consider they speak volumes for the farm’s dedication and focus on growing strategies to deliver high-quality produce. We believe our award-winning Driscoll’s Reyna raspberry is set to take the industry by storm due to its unsurpassed flavor and appealing shelf life. Our aim has always been to deliver exceptional premium fruit to the U.K.’s leading retailers whilst, at the same time, taking our responsibilities as custodians of the landscape seriously, in creating efficient, environmentally-responsible growing conditions. These wins would not have been possible without all the hard work of the whole team at Clock House Farm.”
All three of Driscoll’s varieties, Reyna, Zara, and Victoria are already award-winning varieties after they received the highest possible three-star rating and rating them as ‘exceptional products' at the Super Taste Awards earlier this year, organized by the International Taste Institute.