12 Jul Meet Mee Blueberries

Meet Mee Blueberries, a family business run by husband-and-wife duo Peter and Zoe Mee, with their children Charlie and Emily. The business, based at Lyveden Farm in the Nene Valley, at the northern end of Northamptonshire between the villages of Nassington and Fotheringhay, is a proud member of the Full Circle project – a Northamptonshire initiative focusing on sustainability and reducing food waste.

Family-run business Mee Blueberries, whose freshly picked fruit can be found on the shelves of Waitrose and Marks and Spencer is a proud member of Northamtonshire’sFull Circle Project – a local initiative focused on sustainability and the reduction of food waste.

Zoe Mee explained: “When assessing our carbon footprint, we continually look at ways to reduce it. Connecting with local businesses is key and allows us to reduce food waste, limit our food miles and help neighbouring businesses access reasonably priced surplus fruit. We wholeheartedly share the Full Circle vision and commitment to sustainability and are proud to be members.”

At Lyveden Farm blueberries are graded and packed. Those that do not meet supermarket demands – they are perfectly ripe at the time of picking which means they don’t have enough shelf life –are separated out. As this fruit is the sweetest and has the best flavour, it is frozen on-site and used in a range of products sold online, including jam, chutney, vodka, and gin liqueur.

Supplying local and reducing their food miles is a priority for Mee Blueberries, with the award-winning business supplying local village shops with produce and regularly holding pop-up events on their farm.

Mee Blueberries, featured on Full Circle’s new digital map, is using the Food Loop App to identify businesses such as bakeries or jam producers who could potentially make use of their ‘waste fruit’.

More about Mee Blueberries

The arable side of Mee Blueberries is managed by Charlie Mee, while his partner Charlotte runs the blueberry packhouse during the harvest period and works on the farm’s bookkeeping and environmental stewardship plans through the winter.

Emily Mee, who is passionate about sustainability and is involved in a range of projects to minimise blueberry waste, completed her Chartered Accountancy in London before returning to the farm to develop blueberry products.

The farm has about 700 acres of land and previously focused on arable growing crops such as wheat for animal feed, oilseed rape for biofuels, and barley for your beer.

However, in 2014 Peter and Zoe realised that for their business to survive and to support the next generation of Mee Farmers, they had to diversify.

Zoe explained “Our farm is unique as it has an irrigation license to pull water from the River Nene which we didn’t want to waste. We wanted to combine this resource with a crop that required water.”

Following extensive research, the family chose to focus on blueberries. This was a growing market with increasing consumer demand. Planting 15 hectares of blueberries under polytunnels and installing a new blueberry processing facility in 2019, the business is going from strength to strength.

Sustainability and Mee Blueberries

Sustainability is central to all operations at Mee Blueberries. From regenerative farming techniques to recyclable packaging, the farm strives to work innovatively and in partnership with a range of local businesses. Some examples include:

• The arable farming operation has recently moved towards regenerative farming techniques, which reduce land disturbance and improve their carbon footprint.
• New crop rotations, including cover crops, help to attract natural predators and improve soil health, which in turn will help reduce the amounts of plant protection and artificial fertiliser used on the farm.
• Use of compost to reduce the need for additional fertiliser, this is blended with spent hops from local brewery Oakham Ales, and woodchip from Nene Valley Tree Services.
• Pollination is an essential part of blueberry production, planting cover crops that are full of flowers, helps increase the number of pollinators visiting the farm. Local beekeepers have hives on site, supporting the bumble beehives used in the spring.
• The horticultural operations including the packhouse focus on protecting the environment with their choice of packaging materials. All plastic punnets used are recyclable, and the farm has a waste baler on-site to bale cardboard boxes, plastic punnets, and other plastic waste before it is collected for recycling.
• Waste metal from arable operations is taken to a recycling yard and any waste oil is recleaned to be used as fuel.
• Using product development to turn what would be ‘waste blueberries’ if restricted to retail shelf life, into something for everyone to enjoy
• Inedible fruit such as immature berries or berries which have fallen from the bush, go to a local pig farmer for the pigs to enjoy.
• Solar panels on the grain store roofs and a ground source heat pump for the farmhouse help to power the business through renewable energy.
• Rainwater harvesting systems make use of naturally available resources which would otherwise get washed away.
• The blueberry irrigation systems work through trickle irrigation systems, helping to keep the water waste on-site low.

Website:www.meeblueberries.co.uk

Tel: 07740 821998

Facebook & Instagram: @meeblueberries