Yeo Valley Blackcurrant Yogurt

Here at British Frozen Fruits, we have been supplying Yeo Valley with our Organic Blackcurrants for around 20 years! We are incredibly excited to introduce you to the Yeo Valley Organic RHS Limited Edition British Blackcurrant Yogurt. It is made with 100% British organic milk and our organic blackcurrants and you can find it nationwide in Waitrose and Sainsbury's stores.

Yeo Valley Organic is a family-owned organic dairy company and will highlight the importance of our soil in reversing climate change with their first-ever show garden at the 2021 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The Yeo Valley Organic Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show has been designed by award-winning garden designer Tom Massey, with support from Sarah Mead, Head Gardener at Yeo Valley Organic and creator of the Yeo Valley Organic Garden in Blagdon, Somerset. The garden will demonstrate the benefits of putting nature first, from soil health to wildlife and plant biodiversity. Hedgerows featuring blackcurrants will border the garden as it is one of the fruits most at risk in the UK from rising temperatures as a result of climate change.

This limited-edition, hedgerow-inspired, yogurt fits alongside this by highlighting the risk warmer winters pose to blackcurrant and other fruiting crops. Speaking about the choice of flavour for the yoghurt, Sarah Mead says:

“We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Anthony and Christine Snell who own and manage the UK’s largest blackcurrant farm. As well as being packed full of Vitamin C, blackcurrants contain antioxidants and anthyocyanins, which to you and me means they help our immune system fight viruses (big thumbs up right now), help ward off cancer, and are a natural anti-septic. They do all this for wildlife too of course, not just humans, and we’re in danger of losing them in the UK if we don’t take action to reverse climate change now.”

Blackcurrants

Climate change will have a major effect across industries so it is so important to us that we highlight the changes it could bring to the farming industry. Blackcurrants require a prolonged period (around 2,000 hours) of temperatures below 7C before they can set fruiting buds in spring. Rising winter temperatures are likely to affect blackcurrant crops in the longer term and farmers are already experiencing changes in their growing patterns. Anthony Snell, Co-owner of British Frozen Fruits, says that:

“While we are still able to confidently grow and harvest blackcurrants to meet demand, we are monitoring winter temperatures and contingency planning for winters when crops may be adversely affected. We grow more than we need, and fast freeze fruit at the point of harvest.".

The RHS highlighted the effects of climate change on UK gardens in its 2017 report Gardening in a Changing Climate, including the potential loss of blackcurrants and other fruiting plants. Speaking about the role gardeners can play in mitigating and reversing climate change, RHS Senior Scientist Marc Redmile-Gordon says:

“Gardeners are a powerful collective force in our fight to reverse climate change. Healthy soil – which is managed sustainably and with as little intervention as possible – captures carbon from the atmosphere more effectively than even trees because it supports higher rates of photosynthesis. It’s really positive that show gardens, including the Yeo Valley Organic Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, are demonstrating how healthy soil can go hand in glove with beautiful planting and design – it’s just the inspiration we all need to make positive changes in our gardens that benefit people and the planet.”

You can find out more about this exciting collaboration at the below link:

https://www.yeovalley.co.uk/chelsea/