Fourayes Heritage

John Acock, Phil’s father, was a natural entrepreneur. He was the first to offer a washed and doorstep-delivered potato service for the farm’s local customers; using 10 converted ex War Department Daimler ambulances to make the deliveries. This hugely successful venture was a foretaste of the way many people buy their food shopping today.

The very first Bramley apple was peeled at Fourayes in 1963 using pioneering semi-automatic machinery for paring, coring, slicing and processing called the Pease System. Fourayes was also first to install a state-of-art fully automatic peeling system – the world-renowned Atlas Pacific.

Fourayes was again one of the first to launch a ‘farm gate’ service for direct sales to the public of apples and potatoes. Fourayes was also an early ‘pick-your-own’ provider of summer fruits including strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, white currants, rhubarb and loganberries. Demand was so great that we had to establish a one-way system in the lanes around the farm!

Enormous investment in the first ultra-low oxygen storage facilities in the Country – a technology that is still industry-leading.

Phil took over from his father, John, as Managing Director and Fourayes pioneered the natural apple dip that prevents browning without the use of preservatives. Today, this dip is the industry standard and is still the preferred method when processing. We also developed the hot-mix pie filling, eliminating the need for further processing by our customers. A brand new state-of-art factory was commissioned with Fourayes becoming the largest UK fruit processor and supplying processed apples, pie fillings and mincemeats.

A new dispatch area and pie filling centre were purpose built – further expanding our capabilities.

Jam and Aseptic fruit purees were added to an ever-increasing, and already impressive, portfolio of products. A significant and world-leading DCA (Dynamically Controlled Atmosphere) storage facility was built on site and Fourayes Food development created our famous Utterly Fruity and Plumptious brands.

And way beyond…Fourayes continues to improve its facilities, investing in new technologies and great people, and growing its range to meet the needs of the food industry.

Fourayes began to work with Puratos UK on the Utterly Fruity range, which included four varieties: Bramley Apple, Cranberry, Carrot, and Beetroot. A unique sweet-spot between freshness and juicy real-fruit taste. The relationship continued to blossom.