Background
The Eagle family has farmed on the north Essex coast for over a hundred years and the business has changed over time – from sheep, to arable, to dairying to diversification. We are lucky to live and work on a beautiful part of the East Anglian coastline, with London just an hour down the road. However, farming can be tough at times and on top of the economic challenges we face a long term threat to our sea walls which protect the farmland, as a result of sea level rise and climate change. We still grow a number of other crops on the farm today and sheep graze our marshes which are now managed with conservation in mind. However, one crop on the farm particularly excites us!
2009…sea buckthorn GOES IN THE GROUND AT DEVEREUX FARM
David Eagle is the fourth generation of the family to manage Devereux Farm. Faced by the long term threat of sea level rise he was looking for a crop that was fit for the future of the farm. Dr John French from the University of East Anglia, who was then head of the InCrops Research Institute, introduced David to a shrub called sea buckthorn.
Some German and Finnish varieties of sea buckthorn were sourced from producers on the continent and planted on the farm. In the same year, David attended an international sea buckthorn conference in Siberia with Dr Mark Coleman from the University of East Anglia. This led to some Siberian varieties being planted on the farm in 2010.
2011-2012…more plants and a small harvest
2011 and 2012 saw more Siberian plants in the ground, as well as the introduction of some Latvian varieties and the first (small) harvest of the German plants. In 2011 the British Sea Buckthorn Company (BSC) itself was founded.
2014-2018 academic research, NEW PRODUCTS AND TRIPS ABROAD
BSC sponsored a Medical Research Council literary review regarding the cardiovascular implications of taking sea buckthorn supplements. The results were published in the Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. Further, David spoke at the 3rd European Workshop on Sea Buckthorn (Euroworks), which was held at Naantali, Finland. While all this was going on the plants continued to grow at Devereux Farm. It takes a while for a little sea buckthorn plant to grow to the wonderful orange berry laden shrub it becomes as an adult!
BSC launched its first equine product during this time – BSC SeaBuckthorn for horses – and we co-founded the UK Sea Buckthorn Association (UKSA), which aims to build stronger connections between those with an interest in sea buckthorn in the UK.
We learnt a great deal about sea buckthorn during this period, with trips across Russia and Europe, meeting growers and researchers. We also continued to learn from our own growing of the plant at Devereux Farm.
We also started selling our own branded oil capsule product, working with a German company who encapsulate oil from Russia.
2019 to The Future…new products, new plants
We are excited to build on our momentum and continue to develop our offering at BSC, including launching our new website which sells some sea buckthorn products from top brands. Sea Buckthorn brings the potential for so many different opportunities and we look forward to taking you on our journey with us. It is a fascinating plant which can give us so much!