Alfred G Pearce is a family business started by Alfred Pearce in 1959, and has grown rapidly under the direction of its 2nd and 3rd generation family members sons Simon and Jonathan and grandson Jack Pearce. Today, the business which was started to supply the local canning industry, will process an estimated 98,000 tonnes of vegetables and alliums per year, all either fully or semi prepared for customers including leading food manufacturers across the UK and Europe, and major UK retail outlets. This has established Alfred G Pearce as the leading UK vegetable processor in this area of supply. Carrots supplied by Pearce will end up in prepared salad packs, fresh soups, stir fry’s, coleslaws, ready meals, snack packs, crisps, crudities’, frozen vegetable packs, canned, bottled and pickled product, all of which are sold through the UK’s retailers and food service companies into restaurants, airlines, and hotel chains.
The east coast of the UK has historically been a very good area for growing carrots – from Suffolk and Norfolk right up to East Yorkshire, mainly due to the lighter soils and the lower frost temperatures provided by the coastal areas. Nowadays, over 80% of the carrots grown by or for Alfred G Pearce are within a 60 mile radius of the production unit. Carrots are harvested, graded, washed, cut and packed through the production unit near Kings Lynn, Norfolk and despatched to customers within a very short time period. With the major investments that have taken place and continue to, in both production and hiring and training skilled and dedicated staff (they now employ over 90 people), the operation has grown significantly since the early days and now runs 364 days a year.
One thing that hasn’t changed in all this time, however, has been the importance of the taste and appearance of the carrots grown by Alfred G Pearce. Special varieties are trialled and grown each year to offer an optimum taste profile, a fantastic orange colour and a great ‘crunch’.