A family-owned Kent fruit farm has signed a £30 million deal with Aldi to exclusively supply the supermarket giant with British apples and pears.

The contract has been awarded to Rochester-based AC Goatham & Son which has 26 farms all over the county, producing Royal Gala apples, Braeburn apples and Conference pears.

Founded in 1947, and run by Clive Goatham and his son Ross, the business will now be Aldi’s sole supplier of British apples – providing an estimated 45 million units to its stores across the country each year.

The contract is a huge five-fold increase in supply to the supermarket since the farmer first began working with Aldi in 2016.

To meet the extra demand, AC Goatham & Son will be planting new orchards at its farms across Kent and working with the supermarket to extend the growing season with controlled atmosphere storage.

“This deal is a fantastic achievement for a family-owned business like ours and will enable us to invest even further to supply quality fresh produce to all Aldi customers across the UK,” said managing director Ross Goatham.

Managing director of buying at Aldi UK, Julie Ashfield, said: “Aldi is a proud champion of British produce, and it is our pleasure to be working with AC Goatham & Son to supply all of our British apples.

“We are impressed by the business’ growth over the past seven years with Aldi and are excited to see what this next chapter brings.”

In line with its commitment to support British farmers, Aldi was confirmed largest buyer of British apples for the August 2021 to July 2022 season, according to the industry body, British Apples & Pears Ltd.