Juice talk

It was never David and Linda Deme's intention when they left London 21 years ago to become apple farmers. Chickens were what they wanted to rear. Then they discovered the problem with chickens: they die.

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The farm they had bought - Water Lane Farm in Chegworth, just south of Maidstone, Kent - was situated, however, close to what used to be prime apple-growing country, the Sutton Valence ridge. The cold air and frosts drain off the hills making them ideal for apples, which were safe, less labour-intensive and didn't - so they thought - die. They set about planting traditional English varieties such as Cox, Russet and Bramley, as well as Conference, Comice and Concorde pears. At first the plan was to sell to wholesalers and into supermarkets. But then the problems started as a familiar tale unfolded. Supermarket buyers opted for the aesthetically consistent and intensively farmed (read cheaper) foreign varieties at the expense of home-grown produce. In New Zealand, home of the hugely supermarket-successful Braeburn variety, it is usual for growers to pick all their fruit with huge "pluck-o-matic" machines, while UK supermarkets often dictate that farms must scan each individual fruit they sell to ensure uniformity. It was not a world the Demes wanted to compete in. "The price we were getting from the supermarkets simply did not match the energy and commitment being put in," says David. So, rather than be led by the unrealistic requirements of, say, five key buyers, they pulled out of the supermarkets five years ago. A meeting with Nina Plank, whose family helped set up the network of farmers' markets in the USA, persuaded the Demes to move into independent markets here. They now have more than 300 customers and are a regular feature at London's Borough Market as well as other markets dotted around the South-east. However, the real success came when they started to push the juice-making side of the business. "With the juices, we are adding value to what had become a worthless commodity," says David. The juice really is as pure as you could wish for. Made from organic apples, the only added ingredient is a touch of abscorbic acid to prevent discolouration. There is also more than enough variety in the Chegworth Valley Juices range to add a touch of sophistication to the afterthought that is too often a restaurant or bar's soft drink selection. "We don't sell Coke or carbonated, sugary soft drinks, but there's a lot of uptake for these," says Oliver Peyton, who sells the juices at all his London operations, including Mash and Inn the Park. "The shelf is no longer bare when it comes to alternatives for adult bottled drinks. The key is the choice - to be able not to have the standard product range." That choice ranges from the sharper end of the spectrum with the Bramley flavour, blended with either Discovery or the sweeter Cox, to the much sweeter Worcester and Bramley blend, a Russet juice, a pear blend, and special blends with cranberry and rhubarb. The sale of juice to the trade, including restaurants, bars and delis, now represents one-third of the farm's total turnover. Other customers include London restaurants St John and the Medcalf. For bartenders, the juice's purity and clean, pronounced flavours make it ideal for cocktails (see panel, left). And David is convinced the interest will grow. "If you have a decent restaurant, you want a point of difference," he says. "You can have it with a meal. You can even put it on the wine list." The farm itself is beautiful at harvest time, with quintessential autumnal mists slowly rising up from the valley as the sun tempers a bleak October morning. In fact, the cold nights are good for the harvest, as long as they are accompanied by warmer days - the combination helps turn the starch to sugar for the final ripening process. This year the particularly wet weather has also produced unusually large fruit. Last year the fruits were small. Each picker is expected to collect about two tonnes of fruit a day. For eating fruit, the apples are collected more carefully - palm first, then fingers gently wrapped around to prevent bruising - then put into large bins. Currently, the Demes have nearly 100 acres. The Discovery apples are the first to be picked, in August, then the Russets up to mid-October, and finally the remaining pears. The fruit is pressed and bottled on site; mulch from the fruit is spread out on the farm as compost; and from November until March the trees are pruned. The secret with pruning, rather like a vine, is to "treat 'em mean". Branches are snapped so they grow back with fruit facing the sun, or removed completely to keep yields down. In March and April the buds form, and then bees are introduced to pollinate the orchards at the blossoming stage. Again, the weather is critical, as late frosts during a blossom can ruin a year's harvest. In 1997 a severe frost left the Demes with only 1% of their crop at a time when they were still supplying the supermarkets. The crippling effects of this helped them decide to move away from that market. Their new-found sense of freedom bodes well for the future. David is experimenting all the time with his orchards, and plans to introduce varieties that have not been grown commercially in this country for decades. Ashmead's Kernel, Winston, Blenheim Orange and Red Falstaff are among the romantically named apples he is looking at. In this way, his efforts are just as important in bringing back to life some of this country's lost food heritage as the recent generation of chefs who have sought out, researched and put back on the table lost dishes. In years to come the Demes will be opening up our taste-buds to an even greater range of apple-juice varieties. "A lot of growers would look at it financially and ask, ‘How can you do that when the returns are so far off?'" he says. Planting new varieties means waiting at least four seasons before they produce fruit to sample, and then another four years before there's enough to sell. At £20,000 to plant a five-acre site, plus labour costs to prune the stock each year, the returns are not only far off but not guaranteed. However, the Demes trust in their audience of "housewives" at the farmers' markets to make the new (old) varieties viable; and they can now rely on fans in the growing juice trade to try out the new versions. As a smiling David says: "We have found a niche market, and the juice turnover is able to prop up the experiments." It beats chickens, anyway. Chegworth Valley Juices, Water Lane Farm, Chegworth, Harrietsham, Kent ME17 1DE. Tel: 01622 859272 or 01223 523793. Website: [www.chegworthvalley.com Mix it up Bartenders are looking for clean-tasting ingredients when it comes to creating liquid heaven. For Marc Danays, cocktail consultant and head mixologist at Fabric in the City of London, Chegworth juices reflect exactly that. "They are pure, quality, organic juices," he says. "You can feel the burst of fruit - and if, for example, you are using very pure vodka, you want to work with other ingredients that are as natural as possible as well." Apple juice has not traditionally played as big a role in the classic cocktail list as other mixers, but recent trends such as Chivas Regal with apple juice have dragged the humble fruit out of its pastoral idyll and into the urban glare. Here are three ideas from Danays on what can be done with Chegworth Valley juices. Provence 50ml Polstar 45% vodka 12.5ml green apple liqueur 25ml Chegworth Pear juice 37.5ml Chegworth Discovery juice Dash elderflower cordial Dash fresh lime juice Dash lavender syrup Method: Shake all ingredients, apart from lavender syrup, in a shaker and pour. Glassware: martini Garnish: slice of lime with blueberry on middle. Pour a little lavender syrup on to the rim so it sinks down to the bottom. Beluga 50ml Polstar cucumber vodka 25ml apricot liqueur 75ml Chegworth Apple and Cranberry juice 10ml fresh lime juice Dash blue Cura‡ao liqueur Method: Pour all ingredients over ice in the glass. Cover with shaker and shake. Sink blue Cura‡ao down side of glass. Glassware: highball Garnish: Rim glass with white sugar powder and Cura‡ao. Finish with raspberries, blueberries or blackberries. Magic Valley 50ml Chegworth Worcester & Bramley juice 50ml Chegworth Discovery juice 50ml Chegworth Pear juice 25ml raspberry juice Dash vanilla syrup Dash of fresh lime juice Method: Shake all ingredients in a shaker and pour. Glassware: Zombie Garnish: Lime twist