Articles

This summer’s extreme weather has posed challenges for farmers across the country. To meet the nation’s demand for Ribena, Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I’s community of growers shifted to harvesting in the small hours of the morning to avoid the scorching temperatures damaging the blackcurrants. Over 90 per cent of all British-grown blackcurrants are used to make Ribena.

SBF GB&I ensures that the blackcurrant farms it works with have a more secure future by investing in the development of new varieties, more resilient to climate change and fluctuations in weather. One such approach is to select varieties with larger leaves and a growth habit which provides more canopy shading to the berries and greater protection against the sun.

Harvest is the most important time of the year for those involved in blackcurrant production. We have such a small window of opportunity to pick these juicy berries. Our growers have experienced some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in the UK this harvest and have gone above and beyond by opting for dawn harvesting and even night harvesting with lights to make sure the blackcurrants didn’t spoil in the heat.

Harriet Prosser, Agronomist at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I