The Life of a Blackberry
Life begins for the blackberry plant. This plant will be grown in a propagation area for 18months.
Plants are then moved to the fields where they will be planted. Blackberry plants grow outwards so need to be planted up to 3metres apart.
The plants have tunnels erected over them to: Create higher temperatures to speed the growing process up, so the crop is as early as possible. To protect the crop from the rain, which means consistently better quality.
The plants begin to flower. Bees will then pollinate the plants so they start to produce the perfect blackberry.
The blackberries are ready for picking. The blackberries are picked straight into the punnet.
The fruit needs to be refrigerated as soon as possible. It is sent to a coldstore to be chilled to 3 degrees before it can be packed.
A blackberry plant can be harvested for up to 5 seasons, before the plant must be replaced.
18 months before the plants are replaced farmers will remove a bud and a leaf, which are then used to form a new plant.
British-grown berries account for a large percentage of the total volume of berries bought by consumers each year.
BerryWorld also sources a wide range of soft fruits for the UK market from across the globe.
Information about our breeding programmes and new product development.