The cordials and pressé juice products from Belvoir Fruit Farms are the product of inefficient fruit picking.

The people who set up the company had a pick-your-own-fruit operation on the Belvoir Castle Estate in the Vale of Belvoir near Grantham.

But, such was the ineffectiveness of the harvesters who were visiting, they were left with significant quantities of the crops. The decision was taken to make the most of the leftovers - a screw-down press was bought and the juice operation began.

Belvoir Fruit Farms made 84 cases of bottles in 1984, rising to 2,500 in 1989 and 3,500 in 1990. In 2005, it produced 200,000 cases of cordial and the same number of pressé products and is being listed by an increasing number of multiples.

The company got off the ground through the old-fashioned virtue of direct action and hard graft, recalls Pev Manners, head of the company and son of the founder. "Dad would deliver a case to a deli in a town and we would take a stall at the country fair there and let people sample the products. Once they'd tasted the cordials and juices, we could tell them which shop in the town stocked them."

Manners has no idea how many fairs he attended but the word-of-mouth effect began to have an impact on the company. "We rang Harrods and Fortnum & Mason to persuade them to stock it and slowly we started to build consumer loyalty."

Most consumers of the products tend to be ABC1s, but Manners belives the whole market is moving in this direction.

"Being a niche company helps because we are fast on our feet. We can identify what consumers want and meet demand.

"But, the truth is, the whole market is moving away from flavourings and preservatives and colours and caffeine and moving towards us.

"People want healthier, more natural juices and cordials and that's what we have been doing since the start."

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