Chegworth Valley Juices

Chegworth Valley Juices is situated in the beautiful Kent countryside. A family business, it was established as a fruit farm in 1983.

Initially, fruit was sold to the supermarkets and major wholesalers, but in common with many producers, the family did not find this to be a happy experience, finding that they were being put under continual price pressure, with buyers only concerned with the shape and size of the fruit. To quote Chegworth Valley;

“bizarrely they had no interest in the taste or smell of our fruit or by what farming methods or chemicals had to be used in order to produce fruit to their unnatural specification. We realised this was not why our family had become farmers. We passionately wanted to produce real fruit with the best possible taste and smell and fruit not full of harmful chemicals. We also wanted to deal directly with customers who had a passion for real food and drink and would prefer to support smaller producers rather than the big food manufacturers and supermarkets who some feel have devalued the great produce available in England”.

Taking advantage of the emergence of Farmers Markets, Chegworth Valley began to do businesses a bit differently in 1998 selling direct to the public. It was here that they became aware of the level of concern over the use of chemicals and intensive farming methods and would rather buy real fruit that didn't look unnaturally perfect so the first part of the farm was put into organic conversion in 2001. A large part of the farm is now certified Organic by the Soil Association and the rest will be certified in due course.

Many customers had also complained of the poor juices available in the UK and the misleading ways some drinks manufacturers marketed their drinks particularly to children. Of particular concern were concentrated juices where the natural juice has been heated to a very high temperature to leave a thick sludge and questionable nutritional value which is then shipped all over the world and later reconstituted with water and other concentrated "aromas", as well as ‘Juice Drinks’ which dominate supermarket shelves but actually only contain around 5% fruit juice and are then bulked out with water, sugar and even vegetable oil!

So, in 1999 a small traditional press was bought & juice making at Chegworth Valley began. A little nervously they took their first 150 bottles to a local fair and by giving away small sample cups and letting visitors taste the juices they sold out in less than 3 hours. A sign of things to come!

They now sell a range of pure juices and special blends using their own raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, rhubarb and imported cranberries from America. The fruit is tree ripened until perfectly ripe, hand selected and pressed in small batches, often within hours of picking, and then bottled. The juices are then gently pasteurised to retain the nutritional properties and the maximum flavour of the fruit.

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