Hall Hunter – one of the UK’s leading producers of soft fruit – turns 60 this month. A family business founded by Mark and Mary Hall in 1966, selling salad and vegetables at London wholesale markets and offering Pick Your Own, is now one of the UK’s biggest berry producers. B Corp certified since 2025, Hall Hunter commands a 1500 strong workforce.
Currently under the direction of son and Managing Partner, Harry Hall, Hall Hunter now boasts seven farms in the South of England. An operation that spans across a total of 400 hectares of farmland, the business continues to grow at an impressive rate. Hall Hunter’s values; ‘Healthy Community, Healthy Farming and Healthy Berries’ continue to deliver a thriving and successful business.
Growers of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, the majority of production at Hall Hunter is centred around its blueberry crop, with the farm now responsible for nearly 50% of the entire UK yield. With blueberry demand in the UK now at an all time high (demand has increased 20% in 2025 alone). Hall Hunter feels passionately about the importance of buying British. Currently the UK consumes 65000 tonnes of blueberries annually and only 10% of these are British – a figure Hall Hunter is determined to increase.
Consistently utilising the latest technology has enabled Hall Hunter to create a more efficient harvesting and packing infrastructure. Their AI blueberry grading machine is able to pack 40kg of blueberries per minute – 10 times the amount of any human. Furthermore, their Harvey 500 Harvester is able to harvest the fruit at a rate of 600kg/h, making for a more streamlined system and paving the way for further growth too.
Managing energy consumption has also been a key focus for Hall Hunter. A large investment in both rooftop and ground mounted solar panels has enabled the company to convert over 55% of energy output to renewable sources, also including water source heat pumps and a biomass heating network. This ongoing green initiative will also in time save 50% on overall energy costs.
Alongside technological innovation, at the heart of Hall Hunter are its people. Award winning employers, they were listed as one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work in 2025. In peak soft fruit season (May – August) Hall Hunter is responsible for over 1500 employees, the majority of whom are their pickers and packers. A responsibility they take seriously, during the past three years Hall Hunter has upgraded their employee accommodation, investing over £1 million in larger mobile homes, as part of an ongoing investment programme.
In 2025, Hall Hunter was also proud to secure the prestigious B Corp certification with an impressive score of 96.1, through biodiversity and conservation measures such as pollinator monitoring and WRAP food waste reporting, community events like the annual LEAF Open Farm Sunday and countless school visits, and a competitive employee benefits and development programme. The certification recognises the company’s ongoing efforts in ethical and sustainable practices.
With a projected yield of 10,000 tonnes for 2026, Hall Hunter will continue to focus on growth, with innovation being central to their ongoing success.
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