Brief History of Abbey View Produce Ltd. Abbey View Produce Limited has its roots in the old Covent Garden market. Formerly known as George Coleman (Lea Valley) Limited, it was an offshoot of George Coleman (London) Limited, a company that still exists today and has a history dating back over 200 years, making it the oldest surviving company in the market and, naturally it has an experience and expertise that is hard to match. George Coleman started to supply the retail multiple market in the early 1960s direct from Covent Garden and then in 1965 the company acquired land in the Lea Valley, in close proximity to its grower base with the intention of supplying 'naked' cucumbers direct to its customers bypassing the London wholesale markets. By 1968 the Lea Valley site at Tyler's Cross was being used as a central pick-up point for its main multiples customers and it was three years later that the site first supported its own legal entity George Coleman (Lea Valley) Limited. The company was now able to concentrate on the development of the products that it supplied and in 1973 became the first packhouse to shrink wrap cucumbers, giving its multiple customers crucial shelf life flexibility. The company was also the first in the UK to offer pre-cut half cucumbers to its customers, clearly indicating its desire to not only stay at the forefront of an increasingly fiercely competitive industry but also to set benchmarks for others to follow. In 1985 the company purchased the Abbey View Nursery, a nursery that until this time had mainly grown tomatoes, this was the first step that the company had taken to become a grower in its own right, rather than just a packer of other peoples produce, and this insight into the nursery industry has enabled Abbey View Produce Limited to build very strong relationships with all of their growers, some of which have stretched over several generations. There were two other excellent reasons for the move from Tyler's Cross, firstly, the company required more space to continue to expand the business and its range of products and secondly, it had twice been the subject of arson attacks (in 1978 and 1982) that had both destroyed the then existing facilities, the second of which was so intense that the heat warped the metal girders holding up the roof. So, after a short time spent in a temporary facility George Coleman (Lea Valley) Limited moved to Waltham Abbey, where alongside investing in a new packhouse and distribution centre it changed its name to Abbey View Produce Limited. The original Abbey View Nursery consisted of just three acres of glass, one of which was comprised of old wooden greenhouses. The entire site was updated with the latest in aluminium glass structures and the site was expanded to a total of three and a half acres. In no time at all the company was extending the packhouse to accommodate the ever increasing volume demands of its customers as well as the increasing amount of innovative machinery that it required to stay at the forefront of product development. In the late 1980s the company commissioned the construction of the country's first automatic cucumber cutting machine, an innovation, like all its others, that its competitors soon followed. During this period the company felt that its potential would remain unfulfilled if further expansion was unable to take place, the Waltham Abbey site at this time consisted of approximately seven acres in total and this prompted the company to purchase an option of 11 acres of adjacent land to its current facility, from a local farmer. Unfortunately planning permission for this field was not immediately forthcoming. In 1998, Abbey View Produce Limited took the decision to further strengthen its supplier base by forming the first Producer Organisation in Lea Valley and a successful application was made to the Intervention Board of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food granting recognition to a subsidiary company Abbey View Producer Organisation Limited. After discussions with their growers, all 22 agreed to the benefits that would be experienced by the group, both in increased buying power, allowing the company to group purchase fertilisers and other products and more importantly the grants that would be made available from the European Union, These would fund the further enhancement of the production facilities, ensuring that their production methods remained at the forefront of technology and further development of growing techniques to enable the company to continue to produce the highest quality produce available. It was about the same time that construction commenced on the adjacent land that had been purchased, having exercised the option that Abbey View Produce had held for several years. Although the necessity now for Abbey View was to once again increase the capacity of the packhouse facility, in order to gain the necessary planning permission the company was required to first construct an additional glasshouse that would shield the view. In consultation with the company's customers it was decided that the new glasshouse should be built to the highest possible specification at a cost of approximately £700,000, and consequently a 16,728 square metre Venlo glasshouse was constructed to a height of 4.5 metres specifically for the benefit of either Aubergine or Sweet Pepper plants, Unfortunately due to the site being waterlogged the building was delayed to the extent that the first crop to be planted in this block was not until February 2000. With the construction of the new glasshouse, that more than doubled the growing capacity of Abbey View Nursery, the opportunity was taken to replace the existing Irrigation system and to convert the heating system to a Combined Heat and Power system that is a more environmentally friendly way of utilising the by-products of generating electricity. Having expanded the total acreage of the Waltham Abbey site the company decided to devote a stand alone half an acre block of glass to the developments of new products with the intention of further expanding the ranges of products that it already dominates as well as bringing new produce to a United Kingdom glasshouse environment such as Okra. In total the company now procures produce from 80 acres in and around the Lea Valley area during the summer, all of which have gained full 'Assured Produce' recognition. Many of these growers have been associated with Abbey View or George Coleman for 40 years, since the early 1960s, when the now Managing Director, Mr. Brian Hibberd, was a salesman in Covent Garden learning the trade from his father. In addition to the summer trade, Abbey View also supplies the same key multiples during the winter season, procuring produce from both the Canary Islands and Southern Spain. Abbey View have for several years been able to supply produce to their customers, all of which has achieved the benchmark Spanish quality standard, 'AENOR? The company has built up strong relationships with its suppliers once again over a number of years, some of which originate from the early 1960s. Over the last few years the fresh produce industry has been going through a series of rationalisations, increasingly the dominant supermarkets demand more streamlined supply lines, with the products of multiple growers in a diversity of locations neatly packaged into one marketing operation. The trend is towards fewer, larger and mote professional marketers, working in partnership with both other UK suppliers and their customers for the benefit of ever more discerning consumers. Abbey View Produce have this year taken steps to build strategic alliances with other UK suppliers that have already resulted in benefits for all concerned parties. As we go to press, Abbey View Produce Limited have just moved into a brand new state of the art facility. This 42,000-ft packhouse and office facility will ensure that the company will be able to offer the highest possible quality of produce to their customers for the foreseeable future. The development has been built behind the existing packhouse to ensure the continuity of supply at a total cost of approximately £2.5 million. The new building will greatly increase the capacity of Abbey View Produce and bring all of the facilities up to date, The goods in area has the capacity to hold 1,080 pallets of produce on the floor and this could conceivably be tripled as they have the height to stack pallets three high. The whole of the goods in area is serviced by four loading bays and is controlled by high humidity, low velocity coolers that ensure that the temperature remains at 1.0 degrees. The nature of the cooling system is such that the produce will be kept in an environment that is far kinder to the produce than most systems, eliminating any chance of deterioration due to the storage conditions. If the high humidity is not required then the coolers are able to adjust to standard. The middle of the building has been separated in to three distinct production room, that are controlled at 14 degrees, each of these areas has been designed for the optimum hygiene conditions. The goods out area is also serviced by four loading hays and has a similar capacity to the goods in area, the coolers at goods out will again operate at 10 degrees. Having built the new facility from scratch Abbey View Produce were able to design the layout of the building to their own specification. They have taken advantage of this by including a state of the art quality control laboratory as well as extensive training facilities and staff recreation areas. In order to make the working environment as comfortable for all concerned, not just their own employees, Abbey View have also included a room that is only available to drivers. This rest area includes washing and shower facilities, which, although won't be used much in the summer season, are greatly appreciated by the Spanish drivers who have spent three days in their vehicles! Despite all of the development that has happened at Abbey View Produce Limited over the past few years, all of the new facilities have been positioned and designed so as further development of the Waltham Abbey site could be made as comfortably as possible, with no need to disrupt the continuing operations of the company. All in all, these are very exciting times for all concerned with Abbey View, both the employees of the firm as well as their customers. Abbey View have worked hard over many years to produce and supply a quality of produce that has given the company a genuine competitive advantage over the rest of the industry. The recent developments have shown the produce industry that Abbey View are not only striving to maintain this advantage but to actively build upon it, to ensure that the company will continue to flourish and expand in the years ahead.