SPANISH RASPBERRY growers finally agreed to pay up in a long-running battle over their right to grow a variety developed near Dundee after they realised that they were in grave danger of losing one of their largest markets and acquiring criminal records to boot, it has been revealed.

A multi-faceted campaign by Mylnefield Research Services Ltd, the commercial arm of the Invergowrie-based Scottish Crop Research Institute, has certainly borne fruit, with the announcement of a deal worth £250,000 in royalties each year.

Glen Lyon raspberries were developed by the institute in the early 1980s but Scottish growers found other varieties, such as the highly popular Glen Ample, were better suited to our climate, explained Rex Brennan, leader of the soft fruit group at SCRI.

However, Glen Lyon now accounts for more than half the raspberry crop in Andalucia and 22 Spanish businesses have signed up to the deal.

Any profits from the agreement will now be ploughed back in to research and development at SCRI, explained Mylnefield managing director Dr Nigel Kerby.

Dr Kerby said that Spain had been renowned for its strawberry production but, over several years, it became clear that farmers were diversifying into raspberries.

Mylnefield initially had a licence agreement with a UK company, which found the situation in Spain difficult to regulate, he went on. As a result, a Spanish agent was appointed and a four-fold strategy embarked upon.

In the first place, no “clean material,”—new, healthy plants—was supplied to the offending growers, leading to a drop in quality and production. The Spanish farmers were also refused access to the latest varieties being developed, which are being demanded increasingly by British supermarkets.

Helped by a change in Spanish law, which made the unlicensed use of intellectual property a criminal offence, Mylnefield also raised various court actions.

“The threat of going to court and ending up with criminal records was a powerful one,” said Dr Kerby.

However, perhaps the most powerful plank in the campaign involved bringing on board UK supermarkets.

When it became clear that the supermarkets, while keen to ensure their winter raspberry supply, would not buy from unlicensed growers, the battle was effectively over.