Labelling The Bottles Of 'Apple & Pear Juice' 2017

A Good Crop Of Apples On The Trees

The year started well for fruit growers with a warm start to the spring causing a strong and healthy production of blossom. However, in some areas of the country localised frosts in late April followed by a dry early summer hit this blossom affecting the amount of fruit on the trees during harvest time. Fortunately the college orchard escaped the late April frosts when the fruit trees were at their most vulnerable and, with a warm wet July and August, the trees are full of fruit ready for harvesting. 

Good Quality 'Blenheim Orange' Apples

Delicious, Ripe Apples

1/3 Of A Tonne (1)

1/3 Of A Tonne (2)

Last week the team began to harvest the many apples and pears in the orchard, picking and delivering them to Waterperry Gardens, eventually enough to fill two wooden boxes of a third of a tonne each. Pressed, pasteurised and bottled for the college, today it was time for the 540 bottles to be shrink band wrapped, labelled and boxed.   

540 Bottles Of Juice

Heat Shrink Banding Machine

Before each bottle could be labelled it had to be placed in to a heated shrink banding machine to have a band of white plastic shrink wrapped around the cap and neck. Loading the banded bottles in to trays they were taken over to the labelling machine for the large label to be struck on to the front of the bottles. This label consists of the college crest and the words 'Worcester College Oxford, Apple & Pear Juice, Made from Worcester College Apples & Pears Vitamin C and nothing else', details of ingrediants and storage can also be found on the side of the label.

Bottles Ready For Labelling

Vigo Labelling Machine

Labelling Bottles, The Large Front Label

A much smaller label for the back of the bottle, with the words 'Best Before Dec 2018' as well as a picture of a duck on it, had to be put on by hand rather than machine. Once the bottle had both labels on, it was placed in to a box, 15 bottles in each box, and then the box was sealed shut with tape.

Duck Labels On The Back Of The Bottle

Boxed Bottles

The whole process of shrink band wrapping and labelling to boxing up took just two hours, 540 bottles in to 36 boxes. The plan is to begin selling this year's juice on Fresher's Day, the day the first year students arrive with their families, this is a first for the gardening team as the juice is not normally ready for sale until December!

Boxed And Sealed

Ready For Delivery

Update, Fresher's Day Tuesday 3rd October.
70 bottles of the juice are sold to the freshers and their families along with a taste of some of the apples from the orchard.

Bottles For Sale

Samples Of The Apples

Update, 24th October 2017
A further two wooden boxes of a third of a tonne each have been filled with Worcester apples and pears resulting in a further 518 bottles, that's a grand total of 1058 bottles for 2017!