Eastern Branch visit to Wilkin & Sons and Tiptree Fruit farm - 6 July 2016

The Group was given a guided tour of the jam making factory seeing all stages from fruit receipt through boilings to jar filling and a tour of the warehouse.

On the day of the tour raspberries and oranges were being processed giving rise to a wonderful mixture of aromas as we followed our guide Kevin through the maze of walkways and passages in an atmospheric old building that seamlessly combined tradition with modern practice. Our group was also allowed to taste the different honeys packed at Tiptree in a taste panel prepared for us in the QA lab.

Outside the weather was perfect for a tour of the fruit farm, sunny but not too hot. The farm manager Andre took great delight in showing us plantations of cherries, blackberries and strawberries where we were encouraged to taste fruit straight from the vine. The group was also shown Tiptree’s latest innovation in growing strawberries to maximise ground usage and the number of crops per season.

Those who didn’t attend missed a privileged insight into the growing and processing of soft fruit finished off by a visit to the world-renowned Tiptree tea rooms.

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