After a long 3 year absence, it was great to finally be back at the Royal Highland Show.

We know it’s a marquee event for many in the industry and for us, it was no different. It provided us with a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work that we do alongside our colleagues and partners.

Given the nature of the Royal Highland Show – it’s 200^th anniversary – we lent on our crop science experience with no fewer than 3 varieties of our raspberries (Skye, Lewis and Glen Ample) for the public to taste and we’re delighted with the positive feedback and especially the empty punnets: always a solid indicator that they were delicious!

And our fruit sweets (which we can take little credit for!) went down a treat too – not just the younger generation.

We also had a bit of fun with the James Hutton Limited Spotify playlist which has seen some recent additions thanks to some suggestions from visitors and competitive colleagues!

Top suggestions included: 

"I'm sexy and I grow it!"

"Crop it like it's hot!" and 

"Reach for the sky(e)" in tribute to our own raspberry. 

It’s great to back at these events and we’ve got a busy summer ahead.

Jonathan Snape, Head of James Hutton Limited said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the Royal Highland Show has returned. As the world continues to search for greater food security whilst transitioning to a net-zero environment, it’s essential we play our part at events like this. The public are aware of these global issues and have a real desire to learn more about how science is being used to address these challenges.

What was most heartening was that the fruits of our raspberry team’s labour was on show for people to enjoy. We were thrilled with the positive response, especially from young people who loved the new, sweeter varieties.”

We’ve got lots to tell you about our raspberries – you can learn more here about our breeding programmes. If you’ve got any enquiries that we could help you with, please contact Jamie Smith. 

Next up we’re on our own patch with Arable Scotland on 5 July.