A WORCESTERSHIRE apple farmer is making bottling a core business.

Clive's Fruit Farm & Farm Shop, near Upton-upon-Severn, grows 18 varieties of apples and has identified a market need for high-quality apple juice.

Owners Charlie and Jane Clive have bought apple pressing and bottling equipment with the help of a Rural Enterprise Scheme grant.

This weekend they will be celebrating with a series of special events, when visitors can taste and buy apple juice made from the farm's home-grown fruit.

"We grow 18 varieties of apple but it had become more difficult to find marketing outlets," said Charlie Clive.

"As we had identified a market for apple juice - especially high-quality, single variety juice - we approached the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for a Rural Enterprise Scheme grant for apple pressing and bottling equipment."

Mr and Mrs Clive have two fruit farms totaling 75 acres - the other farm is near Evesham - currently producing around 950 bins (122 tonnes) of apples a year.

Alternatives

The pick of the crop is taken by supermarkets and some are sold through their farm shop and other local outlets, but a steady decline in sales over many years prompted the couple to think of alternative ways of marketing their fruit.

"We have been looking at other ways of keeping the farm economic for a few years now.

"We'd already had a Rural Enterprise grant in 2000 to set up a children's nursery and that's proving very successful and employs over 20 local people, which all helps the local rural economy.

"In 1998 we bought apple juice from a supplier and sold almost 500 bottles in the farm shop. By last year, this had risen to over 7,100 bottles a year. So there clearly was a demand."

The grant from DEFRA is also providing financial assistance towards installing an industrial drying oven for the production of single variety dried apple rings. Currently, the vast majority of dried apple rings in the shops are imported from overseas.

The Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) is part of the England Rural Development Programme and provides assistance for projects that help to develop more sustainable, diversified and enterprising rural economies and communities.

Its primary aim is to help farmers and other rural businesses adapt to changing markets and develop new business opportunities.