Fruit Focus at Niab East Malling

East Malling, Great Britain

Fruit Focus 2025: Innovation, Exchange & Smarter Growing Solutions

Fruit Focus 2025, hosted at NIAB’s East Malling Research Centre, brought together over 1,500 visitors and more than 100 targeted product and service providers for a vibrant day of innovation, knowledge exchange, and industry networking.

As the UK’s premier event for the fruit-growing industry, Fruit Focus connected researchers, growers, and innovators to spark new ideas and explore sustainable solutions shaping the future of horticulture.

Among the highlights was a standout showcase of the Spin-Fert project and collaborative research between NIAB and ReCoir on recycling coir as a peat-free alternative. Dr Louisa Robinson shared cutting-edge findings at the NFU Fruit Forum on the benefits of adding beneficial microbes to recycled coir, while Dr Mat Papp-Rupar hosted a hands-on demonstration stand, where visitors could engage directly with the material and its potential.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on 9 July 2025 to celebrate innovation, sustainability, and smarter growing practices in UK horticulture.

Behind the Scenes: ReCoir x NIAB – Sustainable Innovation in Action

Behind the scenes, ReCoir and NIAB were hard at work preparing for the showcase—blending science and sustainability from the ground up.

In the lead-up to Fruit Focus 2025, ReCoir prepared custom coir batches by composting, steaming, and blending recycled coir into trial-ready mixes. These substrates were enriched with beneficial microbes as part of the Spin-Fert project, with the aim of supporting smarter, greener growing systems for tray-planted vegetable crops.

This collaboration highlights what’s possible when environmental innovation meets practical application—reducing farm waste and paving the way to peat-free, sustainable cropping.