Farmer Profiles

Peter Hall

The Hall Family has farmed at Marden on The Low Weald of Kent since 1896, and trades as HE Hall & Son Ltd.

Although the third generation, John Hall, is still very much in evidence, the business is currently run by the fourth generation, Peter Hall; his son Adam (20) has recently joined the company.

The company grows 16 hectares of Bramley apples and a similar area of pears, predominately Conference and Comice, which are all packed on site and are dedicated to Tesco.

Organically grown Conference pears and Worcester Pearmain apples are also produced for Tesco, and a unique garden of organically grown Target hops is grown under contract to the Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire for their organic beer, Circlemaster.

The remaining 80 hectares of arable land is either registered organic or currently undergoing conversion to organic status under Soil Association certification.

A large percentage of the farm is managed under environmental schemes covering meadows, hedgerows, woodland and waterways; this has led to significant increases in the number and diversity of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects and plants observed on the farm.

The farm management strategy has been specifically designed to take account of the many and diverse organisms living within the widely varied habitat on the farm, and concentrates on the sensitive restoration, creation and management of this habitat which occurs both within and around the production areas.
The policy of the company is therefore to produce safe wholesome food with minimal environmental impact using a combination of the best of grandfather’s husbandry and the best of modern technology.

Whilst the company has practised this policy for many years, Tesco Natures Choice has formalised this attitude, and recognised the importance of this ethic in the preservation of our landscape for generations to come. This has included, amongst many other aspects, retaining an area of 80-year-old standard Bramley apple trees, as much for the fact that they are home to all three species of native woodpecker (Green and Greater and Lesser Spotted) as for their ability to produce a fine quality crop.

Tesco is the number one buyer of UK apples and pears. We buy more UK Gala, Braeburn, Conference, Cox, In total we buy more than 34% of English apples and pears. We have committed to locally sourcing UK apples and pears during the UK season, This has been demonstrated with English apple and pear figures showing that we proportionally buy more than our market share.