Some say summer has only truly arrived once the elderflowers appear in the hedgerows, and with the recent warm weather bringing on the distinctive lacy white blossoms two weeks early, drinks producer and CLA member, Belvoir Fruit Farms, is now well underway with is annual six week harvest in a bid to quench the nation's growing thirst for elderflower cordial and pressés.

Despite the harsh economic times, sales of elderflower cordial and sparkling presses are bubbling over as a Great British success story with Belvoir alone seeing sales of its 'original' Elderflower cordial increase by 25% and it Elderflower pressé by an impressive 40% this year. In total Belvoir are hoping to sell over 4 million bottles of their Elderflower cordial and sparkling pressé in 2011.

By farming 90 acres of elders, Lincolnshire based Belvoir lays claim to having the biggest orchard of commercially grown elders in the UK - but the elder is a hedgerow plant and occurs naturally all over the countryside. Just as well since Belvoir needs in excess of 50 tonnes of flowers or over three million elderflower heads to meet the demand for its traditional Elderflower Cordial and lightly sparkling pressé. To do this Belvoir encourages locals from the area around the Vale of Belvoir to pluck the elderflower from the hedgerows, as well as in their own orchards, and bring their booty to the farm to get paid around £1.80 per kilo. It's an age old tradition the appeal of which Pev Manners, MD of Belvoir, explains: "Helping with the elderflower harvest is a wonderful opportunity to take part in an historic tradition. People return to the farm year after year to meet new friends, see old ones and enjoy being in touch with nature. It's such a massive job, we all get stuck in." 

Pev, an active member of rural watchdog, the CLA, added: "The harsh winter, followed by a lot of frost and then the unexpected lack of rain has been tough on our elder bushes this year and they aren't as tall as normal, although this hasn't affected the quality of the elderflower blooms themselves." continues Pev. "The early, prolonged period of sunshine has also meant that the elderflowers have come two weeks earlier than usual.  We're lucky that we can call on the local villagers to help as much as we do and that the traditional way we make our cordial can be put into action relatively easily and quickly."

The Belvoir Elderflower cordial all started in the family kitchen where as a young boy Pev and his sisters would help their mother, Lady Mary Manners, infuse the blossoms they picked from wild elderflower bushes around the family farm. The recipe is said to have been given to Lady Manners by her friend, Lady Astor of Cliveden and was rumoured to be a firm favourite amongst the 50s and 60s socialites frequenting Cliveden at the time. Initially it was drunk just by friends of the Manners family but it soon proved so popular that Lord and Lady Manners decided to make it more widely available and in 1984 Belvoir Fruit Farms became the first commercial producer of Elderflower cordial in the UK.

CLA East Midlands director Andrew Shirley commented: "The rural economy is a hotbed of entrepreneurialism that in terms of economic output punches above its weight. Belvoir Fruit Farms is a wonderful success story and an example of what the East Midlands countryside can bring to UK Plc."

Belvoir Fruit Farms hand produces 13 cordial varieties, 10 pressé and 5 Fruit Crush drinks including organic and non organic.  Belvoir's drinks are available from leading supermarkets, delicatessens, food halls and farm shops.