Thatchers Cider has planted a new 51-acre orchard at its Somerset base — roughly the size of 31 football pitches — comprising 31,000 apple trees.
The planting follows three years of regenerative farming to prepare the land for the new trees, the Red Windsor and Katy varieties.
“Great cider begins in the orchard, so making sure the soil is in peak condition is vitally important,” said Martin Thatcher, fourth generation cider-maker.
“It can be up to eight years from taking on the land, to harvesting our first full crop, and then we want it to be a fruitful orchard for decades to come, producing top-quality apples that we can craft into delicious ciders.”
The new orchard will also capture around 325 tonnes of CO2 a year, in addition to the thousands of tonnes already sequestered into the soil by Thatchers’ existing 500 acres of orchards at Myrtle Farm.
Martin added: “We’ve been working in partnership with nature for 120 years, and it is a harmonious balance we strive to protect. Every one of our ciders is made using 100% renewable electricity, including power from the 3,500 solar panels on the farm.
“Nothing is wasted — even the apple pomace left over from pressing is used for green energy or to feed local cattle, and we’ve installed cutting-edge technology to capture CO2 produced during fermentation and re-use it as bubbles in our cider.
“Our orchards are not only places of cider production, but havens for biodiversity, from the bees that pollinate the trees to the worms that enrich the soil.”
Employees from across the business joined the farming team and the Thatcher family to plant the trees. The family were also joined by special friends from Bath Rugby and Gloucestershire County Cricket clubs, as well as Great British Bake-Off contestant Briony May Williams, and actor Joe Sims.
