Macknade Faversham to Host National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show
Macknade, Kent’s food & drink experts, are set to host the prestigious National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show at their Faversham store on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th July.
The event, normally held at the Kent Show, attracts entries from across the UK and provides the opportunity for the nations growers to showcase the superb variety and quality of soft and stone fruit the country has to offer.
Tom Hulme, Chairman, National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show commented: ‘We are delighted that Macknade have agreed to host the show judging and display the fruit at their Faversham store. This will ensure that we continue to spread the good word of our industry, It’s National show and its grower entrants.’
A bumper crop is expected to be entered in this year’s contest including not only cherries but also strawberries, raspberries and apricots.
On Friday 23rd, a judging panel consisting of esteemed representatives from the fruit world, will taste and score the varieties in each category.
Once judging has taken place, the fruit will be displayed for sale on Saturday 24th July at Macknade’s Faversham store, with 50% of the sale proceeds going directly to support FoodLoop – an initiative which aims to reduce and re use unnecessary food waste.
Finn Dunlop, Group Purchasing Manager at Macknade said: ‘The National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show presents an excellent opportunity at the peak of the season, for us to highlight not only the myriad of incredible fruits that can be produced in the UK, but also to raise awareness with our community of the Food Loop initiative – a cause we passionately believe in.’
Macknade Faversham will open at 9am on Saturday 24th July, with fruit available at the front of the store for customers to purchase.
The National Cherry and Soft Fruit Show
The show was started almost 100 years ago in 1924, to encourage growers to increase the quality of their fruit.
It has always been held in public – after the first show in Ashford in 1924, it has had various homes including the Royal Horticultural Society’s Hall in London, and in 1937 was even held in Selfridges in London.
In recent times, the show has been held in conjunction with the Kent Show at Detling. Sir Winston Churchill visited the show in 1948 and H M Queen Elizabeth II visited the show in 1989.
Traditionally, the Queen, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael of Kent are each sent a basket of cherries on behalf of the show – the winning grower of the champion basket of cherries supplies this gift (this is something we will return to next year when Covid allows!).
The show is as important as ever, it continues to provide a shop window showcasing the best and award-winning English fruit to the public.
It creates a great opportunity for growers to provide information and educate consumers about the seasonality of the fruit, the different varieties and how they are grown.
To find out more about The National Cherry & Soft Fruit Show, click here.
For more information about Macknade, please visit www.macknade.com
