Scottish Honeyberry Growers has welcomed Caroline Black to their team of farmers in order to help promote sales and introduce more customers to the relatively new to Scotland fruit.

Caroline comes with a wealth of experience from working as an accounts manager with Angus Soft Fruits. Having studied environmental science, as well as a cookery course at the famous Ballymaloe Cook School in Ireland, she is passionate about food, what she eats and what she feeds her family. Caroline currently farms alongside her husband, Hugh, at Backboath in Carnoustie, where they grow a range of fruits including honeyberries.

“I am very much behind the Scottish honeyberry as I think it is a fantastic product which speaks for itself, and I am really looking forward to introducing it to chefs and delis around the country,” she commented.

Caroline is however very commercially minded and is already making contact with various wholesalers encouraging them to introduce honeyberries to farm shops and retail outlets in Scotland and further afield.

Honeyberries are currently grown by eight farmers from Angus down to the Borders and recently featured on the Hairy Bikers Go Local programme, when they visited Finlay Hay at Easter Rhynd, Perth.

“The interest following the programme has been amazing, with on-line orders for freeze dried fruit and jam from our website through the roof. Most of the growers have had plants in for five or six years now and production is coming to a peak. Last year, it was double the previous year at around 30 tonnes and this year we expect it to double again,” Findlay stated.

The berries are picked by machine and immediately frozen to retain all the goodness and flavour and now the focus will be on pushing sales of frozen fruit.

“We feel the time is right to appoint Caroline, who will spearhead us into retail and establish sales points. The general public are much more aware of the product now thanks to the Hairy Bikers. The freeze-dried fruit and jam has been well-received, so now we need to get our frozen berries out there and available to customers,” explained group Chairman, John Wilson, Over Rankeilour, Cupar.

Caroline added: “I am looking forward to introducing Scottish honeyberries to the marketplace to share this nutritionally incredible, versatile product with others.”