Growing Kent & Medway

Michael Dallaway, Rent a Cherry Tree

Kent is the largest cherry producer in the UK, which is highly beneficial for its economy. Cherries are primarily sold as high-class fresh fruit, but supermarkets won’t sell lower grade fruit e.g. bruised, soft or discoloured despite its tastiness and high nutritional value. These ‘waste cherries’ are transported by lorry to landfill, negatively impacting productivity, carbon emissions and sustainability.

Dr Marina Ezcurra and Dr Jenny Tullet, University of Kent

Dr Marina Ezcurra and Dr Jenny Tullet, both scientists in the Biology of Ageing at the University of Kent, have recently received research funding of £318K from Innovate UK for their project ‘Upcycled Food: Getting the Goodness out of Kent Cherries’, an initiative to innovate agricultural food production by using cherry waste to create new highly nutritious foods.

Worldwide, cherry based products are popular health foods due to their high content of natural compounds called anthocyanins. In this project the University of Kent team will work together with Kent cherry grower Michael Dallaway (owner of ‘Rent a Cherry Tree’) to determine the health benefits of a variety of Kent cherry products. This will provide Michael and other local growers with strong scientific knowledge on their products. A growing consumer demand for healthy and sustainable products that also reduce waste provides a major opportunity for these growers to expand by targeting a wider customer-base. This will create jobs, promote economic growth and reduce agricultural waste in Kent and beyond.

Total project cost: £318,993

This is a DEFRA Farming Innovation Programme funded R&D Collaboration.

Updates about this project can be found on the Rent A Cherry Tree Research webpage: https://rentacherrytree.co.uk/research.