AC Goatham Opens New £9 Million Packing and Distribution Centre
English fruit grower AC Goatham has opened its new £9 million state-of-the-art packing, storage and distribution hub at Flanders Farm nearRochester in Kent. The new packing and distribution centre has been designed specifically for the needs of the company and its partners. The site is also now the new headquarters of the business.
Founded in 1947 by Arthur Conference Goatham, the family firm is now run by his son Clive and grandson Ross. In the last 25 years the business has gone from two farms to currently farming 1,650 acres of top fruit and allied with this a standalone marketing desk with close relationships with Sainsbury, Morrisons and Asda. AC Goatham’s relationship with the major retailers began in the 1980s packing fruit for the Safeway operation based at Aylesford.
Indeed, AC Goatham is Sainburys largest single grower of British apples and pears. Armed with its new packing and distribution facilities, AC Groatham is expected to supply in the region of 200 million apples this season to Sainsbury. In the last 25 years the business has gone from two farms to growing 50,000 bins or 16.5 million kilos of apples and pears.
Clive Goatham, senior partner of AC Goatham, says: “We are entering our first season as direct suppliers into Sainsburys, this facility has been designed with the needs of our retail partners in mind. Improving quality and offering better service to both our retail and growing partners is key to our success.”
Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury, who officially opened the new centre, comments: “We already offer our customers the widest range of English grown apples and pears with 64 British grown varieties throughout the season, which means we have fresh British fruit for the majority of the year and this new facility will help to extend the season even further.”
Justin King adds: “Building on our 10 year partnership with AC Goatham, this is a great step for the apple industry and for our customers who will see more British fruit on shelves. Looking forward, we have committed to double sales of British food by 2020 as part of our 20×20 Sustainability Plan, and we expect this site to play a key part in helping us meet this target.”
