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INNOVATION
S&A Group Holding Ltd
Lady Emma glasshouse production at the company’s South Wales farm.
Sunrise at S&A’s strawberry farm in Brierley, Herefordshire.
S&A Group Holding Ltd is honoured to be recognised with the King’s Award for Enterprise within the Innovation category. S&A has its origins as a fourth-generation family farming business. It is the UK’s largest independent strawberry grower, with its home farm in Herefordshire, and other farms in South Wales and Kent, as well as overseas operations in South America and Spain. As a truly independent grower within the £1.6 billion UK soft fruit industry, it has stayed true to its founder’s belief in ‘innovation that drives value creation’, which is enshrined as a core pillar within its vision and values. This, combined with a desire to have ‘boots on the ground’ has enabled it to create a genuine step change in strawberry genetics with the commercialisation of its Lady Emma strawberry variety. This has taken over 12 years of R&D and six years of growing trials to prove the growing solutions, which have resulted in a variety that can be planted
over seven different planting windows and, in the right latitude, will deliver an effective economic return for growers over an extended period of the growing season. Extending its global reach Since 2012, S&A has been managing Europe’s largest independent breeding programme. As a breeder and also a grower, it was not enough to just sell plants: the company needed to support the growers through ‘knowledge exchange’ and the formation of the ‘TLC’, which is now a club with over 100 growers in more than eight European countries. In 2023 it started trials in North America to further democratise its knowledge and genetics by extending its global reach whilst competing with global businesses who are 10 to 20 times bigger than itself, which is a very British thing to do! Market changing plans Reflecting on the award, Peter Judge, Group Managing Director, says: “The award for Innovation in 2024 reflects the hard work of the S&A team in bringing market changing genetics to growers across Europe and North America, and we are truly humbled to be recognised through the King’s Award for Enterprise – Innovation. “This follows 2023, when our Lady Emma strawberry variety was awarded three stars in the International Taste Institute – Superior Taste Awards. This award recognises the commitment of our breeders, growers and colleagues who are outward searching not backward looking in creating and sustaining our own future. “The unique S&A TLC model of knowledge
Strawberry breeder Dan Smith and Roger Vogels, Growing Director, review new varieties.
exchange (KE) has been recognised as a key part of our award. It supports and delivers a sustainable and resilient return for independent growers, their colleagues and the communities where they live and work. Our grower partners feedback confirms our genetics are transformative and lead the future of modern soft fruit production through the full supply chain from breeding to propagation through grower and customers. “We now grow four ‘Lady’ varieties, with two more to be moved into semi-commercial trials in 2025 and 2026. This is in addition to two raspberry varieties under trial in the UK – Lady Elizabeth and Lady Ellie. In 2024 we will commence trialling Lady Isabella and Lady Grace, which in addition to Lady Emma have been recognised by the highly respected International Taste Awards.” S&A employs over 2,000 colleagues and strives to contribute positively to the local economies we serve.
S&A GROUP HOLDING LTD Brook Farm, Marden, Hereford, HR1 3ET www.sagroup.co.uk
Lady Emma strawberries.
King’s Awards Magazine 2024
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