At Ffiona’s we only use the best ingredients we can get our hands on, our main prerequisites are that they are fresh and organic. That doesn’t always mean they have to be local. However, just because some ingredients come from further afield it doesn’t mean we need to compromise on quality, nor does it mean that it cannot be good for the environment.
Buying fruit that is out of season in the UK from abroad can often, for good reason, be considered a bit extravagant and bad for the environment – this is not always the case.
South Africa is a beautiful and diverse country and with it’s Mediterranean climate it produces some of the best fruit in World, in abundance. Apples, oranges, stone fruit and more are all grown in South Africa during the off season in the UK. With fruit being picked, packed, shipped (not flown) and landed in the UK with weeks, we are able to enjoy this bountiful crop at it’s best.
Now with a new initiative called Beautiful Fruit – rural, farming communities in South Africa are being transformed by the export market. Profits made by the fruit growers are ploughed directly back into their farm and local communities. Providing funding for heath centres and schools. Heres a few stats that show how buying fruit from South Africa is so important for their communities.
- One hectare of fruit planted creates approximately one full-time producing job.
- As a whole, the South African fruit industry provides almost half a million jobs.
- Every South African fruit worker supports, on average, a family of four.
Beautiful Fruit support a number of different capmpaigs, including Help a South African Schools which collects and distributes used books for schools in rural South Africa.
For more information about the wonderful South African fruit that we use during the UK winter and how this thriving industry is helping communities follow the links below.