Matt Hancock is peering through rows of cherry trees underneath a dripping rain cover on what might be the only wet day of summer 2018. Proudly, he points out the unique growing system used by cherry growers at Norton Folgate, the Poupart-owned British stonefruit specialist, and British Cherry Growers, a division of the company formed to grow exports last year."We plant two-year-old feathered trees and we prune them so fruit grows atthe top and bottom, and there is a window in the middle. That allows light in, which is needed to colour the fruit," he says. "This is a unique growing system that was developed byour agronomists."It's perhaps rare to interview the managing director of a multi-million-pound leading fruit importer in a fruit orchard, rather than a boardroom, but Hancock is clearly passionate about growing. He built Norton Folgate into a leading supplier of stonefruit before selling it to Poupart in 2007, but continues to oversee the business, as well as becoming chair of industry body British Cherries.
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