Thinking inside the box with Chiltern Farms

As Nigel Mudge, Chairman and Co-owner at Chiltern Farms of South Africa says, “People who buy fruit from us need only look inside the box to know what is in there.” Whether this is quality, product specification, the packaging or any other aspect of what lies inside, Chiltern has it covered. The company has gone through a period of growth and weighty investment of late and compared with the operation bought by the father of Des Mudge, Chiltern’s CEO and Co-Owner, back in 1954, we really are looking at an altogether different business today. Of course, longstanding family values and a team bound by blood as well as expert business experience can be hugely advantageous amidst such exciting times—so exciting in fact, that TABJ sat down with the Mudges to talk all things Chiltern and lift the lid on what’s going on inside the box.

A family ethos

It all began when Des’s father purchased that first 220 acre (15 hectare) farm some 56 years ago. Today, Chiltern boasts 200 hectares of food planted—a clear indication of the care, attention and commitment that has characterised these past decades.

“We are very much a family business, third generation,” Des says.

“It was always our intention we always wanted to work on the farm. I started out growing the fruit, moved into pack shed did that for couple of years, then Nigel decided to semi-retire and pass over [the] business to me, and I will do the same in a few years and hand it over to his son.”

In a nutshell, Des and his brother inherited Chiltern from their parents, farmed side by side for 20 years and took on Nigel’s son some six years ago. Nigel’s son now manages the Chiltern packing house, with Des running the business and Nigel working as Chairman. The Mudges are full of praise for the “excellent job” Nigel’s son is now doing, as they explain that the family team has all sorts of experience, with this pack house manager offering everything from animal husbandry and university study to farming in the U.K.

It is perhaps no surprise to see that the company history, rich with family achievements, is a happy one. Des says that the original land his father purchased was apple and pear orchards. Acting quickly and expertly, his father planted down the food and continued to farm his crop until, in 1989, Chiltern began to consider diversification.

Growing the grower

Branching out led the company to growing Sharon fruit which it still does successfully today.

“We have a group of S.A. farmers went into partnership with group of Israelis, 700 hectares of Sharon fruit in S.A., which is exported all over the world, we have 16 hectares of that,” Des says.

“Another diversification was blueberries, mainly for export to the U.K.”

Chiltern actually owns its packing business, run separately within the company, which adds another rather unique business arm to the family group.
“We focus on making sure that we run a grower friendly packing operation,” Des says.

“A lot of [what is] done in S.A. is done by people for whom it is their only business. [They] pack for other people.”

Des says it is imperative that Chiltern be one of those farms which is well integrated from orchard though to customer. In fact, by being such an operation, the company has enjoyed a particularly impressive period of growth and, as Des says, “spent a huge amount in the past three years.” He says that 2008 was a great year —the year Chiltern elected to put its packing operation on stable footing by investing in that business arm, and as a result the overall company is all-the-more secure as a result.

“[We made] a lot of upgrades in our packing shed [and] replaced half the machinery. And now we need to start consolidating those gains,” he explains.
“I think we have developed a lot of good systems, we do a lot in our pack house [such as] very technical [work and] lots of checks for quality assurance. This year we have commissioned a new quality monitoring scheme where we can link from different angles the quality of any batch of fruit.”

But it’s not about gadgets or cutting-edge toys; it is always about Chilterns high standards and track record. Des says that the lengths the company has to go to in order to pack fruit for export to the U.K., for example, is greatly demanding. As a result, keeping up with what new technology may have to offer and the total computerisation of the business is paramount. The oncoming quality monitoring system marks another step for Chiltern’s growth.

“When we built it we put in a lot of monetary things for energy consumption so we can automate energy saving practises,” Nigel adds.

“One in particular can monitor how much energy is being used and to [learn how to] minimize the energy being used.”

This system is in place, ready and waiting to be used. Like everything else over at Chiltern, it has fallen right into place and stands ready to improve upon all that has already been achieved. Chiltern is certainly a ‘big box’ with all manner of components behind it, but one look inside guarantees that you will be left wanting more from this pioneering South African farmer.

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