7
F
News
F
CPM
r
etail Ltd, part of theAG ThamesGroup, has
changed its name toSoloberry Ltd, to align the
u
K-based
businesswith that of its Spanish counterpart, Soloberry SL.
Themove, effective from1st December 2017, comes after
the continued success of Soloberry SL, alsopart of theAG
ThamesGroup andbased inMoguer.
f
ounded in 2013,
Soloberry SL has thrived, investing in production and selling
direct to clients across
e
urope. The
e
uropean business has
gone from strength to strength in a short period, and
expansion is planned inNorthAfrica, SouthAmerica,
e
astern
e
urope andAsia. Thiswill see the business become one
international berry company, under the singlemarque
‘Soloberry’.
i
n the past year, the company has added stone
fruit to its portfolio, linking its customers, growers, breeding
and investment projects further.
As part of the change, Begnat
r
obichaud, formerly general
manager of CPM, will becomemanagingdirector of
Soloberry, withGrahamBlake, formerly general manager of
Soloberry SL, moving to a non-executive role, to support the
transition andgrowth. “
i
am excited about the changes that
i
believewill drive the company to go forward as one; a
stronger combined team, able tomeet the challenges and
opportunities ahead.
w
e have an owner committed to
success, and there is bigpotential todeliver for our
customers, growers andbreedingpartners,” saidGraham
Blake.
“
o
ur combinedmanagement team has amixture of youth
and experience, with an unsurpasseddepth of industry
knowledge and a clear
understanding of the
unique challenges and
opportunities.
f
rom
being a business selling
exclusively in
u
K, we
now have activity in all
e
uropeanmarkets, and initial sales
into the developingAsianmarkets, which expand almost
daily,” addedBegnat
r
obichaud.
Soloberry continues to grow in theworldberrymarket
thanks to their continued investment in varietal development
and licensingprogrammes. This enables the business to
provide customerswith berries and stone fruit that
consumerswill want to return andbuy, time and time again,
aswell as providing varieties that their growerswant togrow.
e
arlier in the year, Chairman of AG ThamesGroup Leon
Aichen commented on the success of the berry business:
“The key drivers of our sales growth this year include the
continued success of the raspberry variety ‘Adelita’ which
has recorded another year of really strong growth, aswell as
increased consumer demand for blueberries, which have
seen continuedmarket growth since their ‘superfood’ health
messaging hit a chordwith consumers”.
T
he
frui
TG
rower
•
D
e
C
e
MB
er
2017
B
if
GAAnnual
f
unQuiz
closely contested
CPM
r
etail rebrands toSoloberry Ltd
Delphy begins research into all-
year-roundberry production
There is growing interest in all-year-roundproduction of
raspberries andblackberries in theNetherlands. During the
winter, the production of a high-quality product is still full of
uncertainties, andDelphy has taken the initiative tobegin
further research.
i
nNovember, theDelphy
i
mprovement Centre inBleiswijk
began researching the possibility of increased early production
of both raspberries andblackberries, facilitatedby the use of
L
e
D lighting. Delphy hopes todevelop a viable growing
concept that will produce a high-quality product. The aim is to
achieve the first crop at the endof
f
ebruary.
Growers and agronomistswhowish tobe informed about
the progress of these innovative developments can contact:
Lisanne
h
elmus,
r
esearcher, Delphy
i
mprovement Centre;
telephone: 0031 621 586730or e-mail:
or
w
illem van
e
ldik, Delphy LigneousBerries team; telephone:
0031 653 374538 or e-mail:
