Sunstreams onto Yorkshire shelves for Christmas
As the shortest day approaches, tomatoes of the Enza variety ‘Sunstream' have been harvested at North Yorkshire's Stockbridge Technology Centre (STC).
The juicy red midi plum fruit have come from a new research facility that is testing the potential of energy efficient LED lights to allow crops to be UK grown rather than travelling thousands of food miles.
The freshly picked fruit have the ‘fresh from the greenhouse' aroma only really found with homegrown tomatoes, and will be distributed across Yorkshire by specialist supplier, Delifresh who will sell the Yorkshire tomatoes to catering establishments including the Star at Sancton and the Pipe and Glass at South Dalton, East Yorkshire.
A delighted Graham Ward OBE, chief executive of STC, presented development manager Robert Ramsden with the first fruit this week, just in time for Christmas.
Whilst Delifresh will commence wholesale distribution in January, the first few harvests will be hitting the shelves for consumers in the run up to Christmas through members of the East Yorkshire Local Food Network (EYLFN), including Vanessa's Deli in Beverley and Langlands Garden Centre in Shiptonthorpe.
Nigel Bartle, chair of the British Tomato Growers Association and board member of the EYLFN, plans to help the sales in the run up to Christmas: "I'm looking forward to taking the tomato costume from Graham to go out and invite people to taste this incredible tasting fruit. Sunstream is a lovely variety, with a deep red colour, but most importantly, has that home grown flavour. So with your turkey and tinsel, don't forget your Yorkshire tomatoes!"
Selby based Stockbridge Technology Centre leads the way in research into LED lighting and the new facility for tall crops such as tomatoes complements an existing facility looking at multi-layer crops that could be a model for urban farms of the future.
The state of the art Greenhouse looks like a Christmas wonderland with its red and blue lights, however is not producing just for Christmas. The lights will shine throughout the spring, meaning fresh year round Yorkshire tomatoes will be available for the first time.
STC Science Director Martin McPherson added, "This is a great example of us carrying out world leading research and development, but giving everyone the chance to participate by delivering fresh, local food."
The development at STC has been made possible through support from the industry but especially CambridgeHOK, Philips Horticulture LED Solutions, Norfolk tomato grower Cornerways Nursery and the British Tomato Growers Association (TGA). Several other companies including Havecon bv, Grodan, PlantRaisers Ltd, Meteor Systems, Derek Hargreaves consultancy and XL Horticulture have helped make the project a success through provision of both products and expertise. CambridgeHOK and Philips will also be working closely with STC on the growing strategy for the crop to maximise production and fruit quality and their plant specialists will visit the trial regularly to provide support to the project.
Stockbridge Technology Centre is an independent, not for profit organisation that is wholly owned by the UK horticultural industry and is a centre of excellence in technology transfer to agriculture and horticulture.
Ends
Photo:Graham Ward, right, presents Robert Ramsden with Yorkshire grown tomatoes
Yorkshire Tomatoes
For more information, or to contact Graham Ward or Nigel Bartle for interviews, please contact Tracey Baty on:
Direct line: 01430 871360
Mobile: 07971 961574
E mail:traceybaty@three60 marketing.co.uk
Web:www.three60marketing.co.uk
Notes to editors
Stockbridge Technology Centre
STC was launched in April 2001 to ensure continued technological developments for the horticultural industry. This grower-led initiative has created an independent horticultural centre of excellence supported by both the production and supply sectors of the industry.www.stockbridgeonline.co.uk/Cornerways Nursery
The UKs largest single tomato nursery. The 18ha nursery recycles heat and carbon dioxide from the neighboring Sugar Factory to produce over 140m tomatoes each year.www.britishsugar.co.uk/Tomatoes.aspx
British Tomato Growers Association
The British Tomato Growers association represents the UKs 34 commercial growers. For more information, recipe ideas and tips, visitwww.britishtomatoes.co.uk
CambridgeHok
Leading UK manufacturer of glasshouses and portal framed buildings. Specialising in turnkey projects, energy solutions, civil works, electrical installations, specialist controls. Industry leading LED lighting specialists. UK partners for Philips Lighting, Havecon Glasshouses & Meteor Systems.www.cambridgehok.co.uk
Philips Lighting
As a world leader in lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights. This allows us to develop the most optimal and sustainable horticultural LED lighting solutions, sometimes combining the different lighting technologies, for each and every application. Successful field test with growers and breeders have given us an unparalleled knowledge of the growth effects of lighting on different crops throughout their growth cycle. It's allowed us to create a unique approach to lighting with specific ‘light recipes' that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your plants.www.philips.com/horti
As innovative growers start to adopt LED lighting technology, the new facility at STC will provide valuable information comparing the effects of 4 four different light regimes in the crop. Treatments will include traditional sodium or HPS lighting, hybrid lighting with HPS top lights and LED interlights and LED top lights in conjunction with LED interlights. In addition, diffuse glass has also been installed in one compartment of the glasshouse. This specially treated glass scatters light to potentially provide better growing conditions. The current trial is planned to run through until next summer, after which, there may be more work on tomatoes, or other high wire crops such as peppers.