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Berry Limited

Berry Limited

Cae Sinsir Hen Llandegfan
Menai Bridge
Anglesey

L59 5PY

T: +44 1248 716474

E: berryltd@btconnect.com

www.berryltd.co.uk

 

ABOUT US

Berry Ltd is a private company registered in the UK, and has been trading since February 1991. Our offices are based in Anglesey, North Wales.

We are a supplier of frozen fruits, purees, juice concentrates and infused and dried fruit to industrial, foodservice and retail customers. With a worldwide network of packers plus our own farming and processing operations in China, we offer a wide range of high quality fruit products.

We, together with our Chinese partner, Flying Dragon Ltd, established the joint venture farming and processing company Dragon’s Garden Ltd in Yifengdian near Qingdao, Shandong Province in China in 2000. The partnership between the dragons of Wales and China is embodied in our logo. Berry Ltd is the majority shareholder, financier and marketing agent for the joint venture.

Over the years, as the demographics in China have changed, we have seen China become a key market for fruit and vegetables. The location of our joint venture, close to the major city of Qingdao and within easy reach of both Shanghai and Beijing, means we are also strategically placed as a distribution point for import into China.

We are skilled at supplying a wide range of market leading products to a world-wide customer base, and we invite you to take a look around our website and at what we can offer. We are always interested in product development, so please get in touch with us if you have other ideas in mind.

Dragon’s Garden was incorporated in 2000. We started literally from the ground up with the establishment of a nursery farm at Hong Dao. Many new cultivars of soft fruit were imported to this site. From the beginning, we practised organic farming methods.

Additional farms followed and in 2003 we started building our freezing factory at Yifengdian about one hour north of Qingdao.

In 2007 a second factory for infusing and drying fruit was built at the same site.

Today, Dragon’s Garden Ltd operates four berryfruit farms of which three are organically certified by Ecocert. Our organic farming operations cover approximately 100 acres. We employ about 60 permanent staff at our factories and our seasonal workers take our numbers to around 130 staff.

A steady programme of investment from Berry Ltd has resulted in Dragon’s Garden becoming one of the most flexible and capable fruit and vegetable processors in China. Our operation in China allows us to provide a unique service which gives our customers the best of both worlds; the wonderful natural resources of Shandong province, known as the “fruit bowl” of China, together with a Western approach to business and contractual obligations.

At Dragon’s Garden, we pride ourselves on the systems and processes we have in place to ensure the quality of our products is never compromised. We are always prepared to have our methods and products scrutinised. We are BRC, HACCP and ISO22000 certified, as well as holding Kosher certification and organic certification by Ecocert.

 

 

 

FACILITIES

Our two factories are located on the same 7 acre site located just outside Yifengdian village which is about 40 minutes by motorway from Qingdao airport.

We have invested in our facilities over the years and as a result, our capabilities are extremely flexible. The facilities available at our factories, together with the diverse skill set of our staff makes us uniquely placed to offer a very wide product range, including:

  • Production of IQF fruit and vegetables;
  • Dicing and slicing with sugar addition if required;
  • Deep frozen purees including blends;
  • Blended or single fruit, vegetable or herb purees packed in cube form;
  • Dried, infused fruit;
  • Jams and fruit preparations.

Packaging formats include drums, cartons, pails and a wide range of retail and food service options.

 

OUR PRODUCTS

We are pleased to be able to offer a diverse product range, including the following:

Freeze-Dried Fruit

Infused, Dried Fruit

Jams & Fruit Preparations

Organic

Purees & Puree Cubes

We love to hear about new ideas and we get excited about product development. We understand the importance of confidentiality and protecting intellectual property rights. Please contact us if you would like to discuss new fruit products.

Winter polytunnel grown strawberries

 

Farming in China

The Shandong peninsula has long been a fruit bowl of China. The delta of the Yellow River has moved many times over thousands of years and has left a wonderful depth of free draining silt across much of Shandong.

The climate is different in Shandong to other parts of the world at the same latitude and presents its own challenges. Shandong gets the tail end of a monsoon in midsummer which makes the months of July and August often wet. Furthermore, the dry winter and wind chills from Siberia can be very cold indeed. We have learnt over the years that there are benefits to this rigorous climate as well as some drawbacks, for example:

  • Adequate winter chilling which allows the many fruits that need a dormant period to thrive. Apples, pears, peaches, and apricots are produced in colossal quantities in China; some 30 million tons of apples and 14 million tons of pears are produced annually with the USA by comparison producing 4.3 million tons and less than 1 million tons respectively.
  • Organic management of fruit is easier. Pest populations are knocked back every year and the mould that can often be a big problem for strawberries in Poland, for example, does not trouble us. With plentiful labour to hand weed we do not need herbicides. So while there are critics of organic farming in China we have 14 years’ experience which shows it can be done well.

Much of the challenges associated with a cold winter climate can be overcome by the fantastic large Chinese warming polytunnels, of which we have 19 on our farms.With these structures, it is possible to ripen strawberries in mid-winter when the outside temperature may be no more than zero, and night time temperatures at around -10°C. Some of our fruit is grown on table top systems that can be raised or lowered to maximise sunlight exposure. As a result, we can ensure we keep up with our customers’ demands and supply fruit all year round.

We take our ethical and social responsibility very seriously. In addition to our organic stewardship of our land, we have installed a waste water treatment system that allows all our waste water from washing and processing to be returned to nearby farms as completely clean irrigation water. We have a tank in our final outlet stocked with fish as evidence of this purity. We observe the employment laws of China and our staff is our greatest asset.

We are members of SEDEX.

 

Worldwide Sourcing

Berry Ltd is not limited to sourcing from China. China is where we have vertically integrated our activities; however, 30 years’ experience in the fruit growing and trading world means we have an extensive network of connections on all continents save Antarctica.

So, if you are looking for sour cherries or currants from Poland, raspberries from Serbia or South America, boysenberries from New Zealand, blueberries from the USA or Canada or juice and puree concentrates from the best packers in Europe and the USA we can help.

We welcome your enquiries.

 

 

 

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