WE are constantly being badgered to eat more fruit and vegetables. AL.M.ME, a an association of Greek agricultural cooperatives provides a tasty way of doing this.

It is a group that is comprised of Aliakmon, Messi and Meliki, who are three first degree agricultural cooperatives which cover 3200 hectares in Central Macedonian Greece and especially in the heart of the Imathia region.

They have over 2000 growers as members, many of whom have been active fruit growers since 1928. They have been investing in fruit and vegetable packing over the last 30 years and have entered the food industry by establishing a wide range of frozen fruits and vegetables. The main fruits that are processed and packaged are peaches, nectarines, kiwis, cherries and apples in season.

Their latest investment is an industrial fruit processing complex in Kouloura Imathia, that is widely considered to be one of the most advanced units in the world. It processes canned peaches, pears, fruit cocktail and berries.

AL.M.ME growers assure customer of the highest quality by using the latest methos of quality assurance during all processing stages.

One prime example is the integrated crop management system, which uses high resolution photographs from the satellite, Quick Bird, supported by a network of four meteorological stations to give detailed statistical information to the ICM system, which ensures the rational use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemical substances.

All this is supported by a modern fully equipped chemical analysis laboratory.

The complex takes delivery of all its raw material, separately from each grower to ensure traceability. It can process 500 tonnes each day with a total peach production of 30,000 tonnes during the season.

All industrial residues are converted into organic fertilizers.

The tinned fruit range is packed in syrup, juice or water. This range extends to peach halves, slices, dices and slivers, pear halves and dices, raspberries, fruit cocktail and summer fruits.

A tasty addition to the range is Fruits in Pots. These are plastic containers, that have been filled with various fruits in a wide range of fruit-flavoured jellies