What is the Blackcurrant Foundation?

The Blackcurrant Foundation has been established by British growers and the group has close links with partners from all over Britain and Ireland, to raise awareness of the numerous health benefits of blackcurrants from the British Isles. Jo Hilditch is the chairman of the British Blackcurrant Foundation.

 

How is the Foundation funded?

The Foundation is funded by British Blackcurrant growers based on a levy from every tonne produced.

 

How many blackcurrant farmers are there in the UK?

At present there around 50 blackcurrant growers in Great Britain. As manufacturers start to diversify in to different markets, there is an opportunity for greater import substitution and the quantity grown will therefore increase.

 

What is the history of the British Blackcurrant?

Blackcurrants have grown in the British Isles for over five hundred years and have been used by herbalists since the middle-ages to treat bladder stones, liver disorders, and blended into syrups for coughs and lung ailments amongst other illnesses.

 

Dubbed the forgotten fruit, blackcurrants were traditionally found growing in kitchen gardens throughout the UK. By educating consumers about the fantastic health credentials linked to blackcurrants to maintain a health lifestyle, blackcurrants will be revived once more.

 

Varieties grown and bred in the British Isles are particularly rich and dark in colour, so contain a high content of anthocyanins, which promotes antioxidant activity.

 

What is the harvest process?

Usually machine picked by a straddle harvester, the blackcurrants are picked at their optimum ripeness to maximise quality.

 

When are blackcurrants harvested?

British blackcurrants are seasonal. They are harvested and available fresh in July and August only but are available year round in a lot of the larger multiples and farm shops.

 

Why is the season so short?

Actually the natural season is quite long. A six to eight week harvest period for any fruit or veg in one climate is quite significant. Consumers have become very used to being able to source fresh fruit and veg all year round and we are also trying to promote eating them frozen and drinking them in juice, smoothies, yoghurts and squashes all year round.

 

How many blackcurrants are produced in a season?

Blackcurrant Foundation members grow just under 5,000 acres [the equivalent of 4,000 football pitches] of blackcurrants across the British Isles which produces a crop of approximately 14,000 tonnes of fruit every year during the harvest season in July and August, although this depends on the climate during the season.

 

Most commercial growers average about 50 acres (4,000 bushes per acre), producing optimum yields of 4 tonnes per acre depending on bush health and season - 6 tonnes on a bumper year.

 

What makes British blackcurrants so healthy?

Blackcurrants don’t just taste delicious; eating them can help protect your body against ageing and a myriad of ills including cardiovascular disease.

 

Blackcurrants are full of health promoting antioxidants. It’s these special antioxidants, called anthocyanins, which give blackcurrants their distinctive dark colour. The darker the blackcurrant, the more anthocyanins it contains.

 

British blackcurrants are grown and bred especially for their deep colour, making them extra good for you.

 

What are the health benefits of eating or drinking blackcurrants?

Previous studies have found that British blackcurrants appear to help inhibit or in some cases reduce the effects of many of the chronic and degenerative diseases, including:

 

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Visual function (eye strain) Among others.

 

It should be noted that besides all the wonderful anthocyanins blackcurrants also contain a myriad of other good compounds such as vitamins C, B2, E and K as well as calcium, iron, selenium and zinc.

 

Who has researched these health claims?

The health benefits of blackcurrants have been researched by a number of different people. For references visit www.superfruits.org. Contact details can be found on the website for further information.

 

Where are blackcurrants available?

British blackcurrants are available from some of the larger supermarkets during the season, or alternatively out of season they are available in a wide range of products, including Ribena, Innocent Smoothies for kids, Asda extra special 100% juice, Pixley Berries, British Cassis etc and in mixed frozen fruit packs that can be found in most major supermarkets (specifically in the frozen mixed berry pack in Waitrose).

 

If 95% of British blackcurrants go in to making Ribena, where can I get hold of fresh blackcurrants?

Some of the larger supermarkets stock blackcurrants during the season, as well as some smaller farm shops and markets.

 

Are blackcurrants still a superfood/good for you/healthy, even when they are cooked and made into jams and tarts, juices etc?

Yes a large proportion of the “good” natural compounds in blackcurrant survive cooking. For example the coloured compounds, called anthocyanins, are very resistant to cooking and survive through to give the preserves and tarts their lovely appealing colour as well as exerting their beneficial effect.

 

So yes, by and large the blackcurrant remains as a beneficial food following cooking but this has to be balanced against the amount of sugar used in the tarts and jams! Everything in moderation!

 

How does the weather affect crops?

Sunshine results in higher fruit quality so resulting in higher levels of natural fruit sugars. Very hot sunshine during harvest can however cause the fruit to cook in its juices own skin; fine for tarts but not so good for fresh fruit or juice Weather and climate change can effect or delay crop causing uneven bud break and hence difficult harvests and yield drops.