East Malling Research (EMR) wins a 4-year contract worth £750,000 from the BBSRC for strawberry wilt disease research. This award is part of a new Crop Science Initiative launched today.

The research team, led by Dr David Simpson, will use a genetic approach to study resistance to strawberry wilt disease, a serious disease, caused by a fungal pathogen, that is widespread in the UK. The timing of the award is crucial, following last years withdrawal of methyl bromide for soil sterilisation to control the pathogen.

This new project will use the native British wild strawberry as a model to study the genetics of resistance to wilt. Work on the model species will lead to the identification of genes that are responsible for resistance in the cultivated strawberry.

A genetic tool kit will be developed that can be used by strawberry breeders to produce new varieties that have an effective and stable resistance to wilt.

The strawberry breeding programme at EMR has already produced cultivars with partial resistance to wilt, including Florence and Flamenco, but screening has been based on the development of symptoms in the field and the inheritance of resistance is not understood at the genetic level.

David Simpson says “New varieties with strong resistance to wilt will be a boon to strawberry growers and greatly assist the long term sustainability of strawberry production in the UK. Consumers will benefit from improved availability of fresh, locally produced strawberries.”

1. East Malling Research (EMR) is an independent provider of research and consultancy serving the food chain and other sectors of the land-based industry. EMR builds on 90 years experience of successfully delivering cutting edge research and development. www.eastmallingresearch.com

2. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the UK’s leading funding agency for academic research and training in the non-clinical life sciences. www.bbsrc.ac.uk

3. The BBSRC Crop Science Initiative is being launched by the BBSRC and the Science Media Centre on Tuesday 9^th January in Birmingham. The initiative aims to promote the transfer of understanding of basic plant science to crop research, and to enhance capabilities for crop science in the longer term.

4. Strawberry wilt is a widespread and serious soil‑borne disease caused by the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae.

5. The genetic tool kit will include molecular markers which are identifiable strips of DNA that can be detected in the laboratory and are used to ‘flag’ the location of a specific gene with desired characteristics, in this case resistance to wilt.

Title: A genetic system to study resistance to the soil‑borne pathogen Verticillium dahliae in strawberry

Local school children will become scientists for the day, at an interactive science fair at East Malling Research (EMR) on Thursday 15 March as part of National Science and Engineering Week. The Mayor of Maidstone and the Deputy Mayor of Medway will join us in the morning and the Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling will visit in the afternoon, to see EMR scientists bring science to life for a young audience and to meet the children who may well become scientists of the future.

Over 160 pupils from 4 schools will take part in this free interactive science fair sponsored by Research Councils UK as part of National Science and Engineering Week. Pupils will be able to:

The EMR science fair, now in its 8^th year, makes science fun for a young audience. Students and visitors will be encouraged to join in the traditional event of “holding the creepy crawlie”.

EMR’s scientists are also going on the road. This week, pupils at Ditton Infant School and their families have had the chance to dress up and be scientists. On the evening of Wednesday 14^th March local Cubs and Scouts packs will handle the giant minibeasts and see insect predators in action.

Tel: 01732 843833                               Tel: 01732 523723
Fax: 01732 849067                               Fax: 01732 849067
Email: penny.greeves@emr.ac.uk          Email: ursula.twomey@emr.ac.uk

East Malling Research (EMR) has appointed Lisa Estorffe in the newly created role of Commercial Sales and Marketing Manager. Lisa will manage the development of food and drink sales for EMR as part of its drive to create new income streams to support horticultural research.

Lisa plans to focus on the development of added value products based, wherever possible, on crops grown on the East Malling estate. EMR will establish local routes to market for its product portfolio which will be developed under the branding “Malling Fine Food and Drink”. EMR has for the last two years been selling its single variety apple juice and one of Lisa’s early targets is to increase both sales and distribution of this product.

Trained as a food technologist, Lisa is an experienced product development manager and has worked for several food manufacturers, creating a variety of dairy products. For the last 4 years she has run her own consultancy providing technical assistance and new product innovation for ice cream and confectionery manufacturers.

Lisa says “There is a real potential for EMR to develop a commercial food and retail arm to support its research activities. The demand for locally produced food and drink using traditional methods is the ideal outlet for our fruit and products. We have the R&D skills to produce a range of high quality retail products and the experience to look at further markets in the food manufacturing industries. Our geographic location and the space available at East Malling will enable us to develop a point of sale that will create revenue and further stimulate interest in our activities.”

Since privatisation in April 2004, EMR is committed to increasing its commercial income. In fact, 25% of annual revenue now comes from non-science sources. From embryonic beginnings, EMR has established successful Conference and Enterprise Centres. The East Malling Conference Centre has seen a year-on-year growth of 30% over the last three years, with 10,000 customers through the door in 2006. EMR’s popular Enterprise Centre is servicing 30+ tenants, with more space becoming available soon. There are a range of tenants including some from the agrifood industry. Most are taking advantage of the “easy in, easy out” philosophy of the Centre, which makes it an attractive location for small enterprises.

David Johnson, head of post-harvest research at East Malling Research (EMR), was awarded the Marsh Horticultural Research Award by the President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Peter Buckley, at the Society’s London Flower Show yesterday.

This is the second time that this has been awarded, and David has been honoured in recognition of his long-term research on the pre- and post-harvest factors affecting the storage of fruit.

David and his group at EMR have been instrumental in developing industry standard storage conditions for a wide range of tree fruits with responsibility for providing storage recommendations for all apple and pear varieties grown in the UK. Predicting the influences of orchard management treatments on storage quality and the development of treatments to improve storage potential, are prominent features of David’s research. Developing methodologies to measure quality in horticultural crops both destructively and non-destructively have also been of major interest to him.

In recent years, he has worked to ensure that the UK industry achieves access to new technologies, particularly in controlling ethylene production in climacteric fruits by the use of bioregulants. However, his greatest challenge of late has been to discover the cause behind Diffuse Browning Disorder in controlled atmosphere (CA)-stored Cox apples.

David has worked at East Malling since 1972 and is now recognised as one of the world’s leading post-harvest physiologists. His interests have broadened over the years to include all aspects of storage and more recently, orchard agronomy and rootstock trialling.

2. The Marsh Horticultural Research Award is awarded annually by the Marsh Christian Trust in conjunction with the RHS to recognise individuals who have made an outstanding contribution or conducted long term research into fruit and vegetable growing.

3. Digital photograph of David Johnson with the Marsh Horticultural Research Award is attached, and is also available from the Communications Office.

Bradbourne House and, for the 27^th successive year, its gardens, including the Hatton Fruit Garden, at East Malling in Kent will be open to the public on Sunday 29 April from 2-5pm. All funds raised will be donated to the National Gardens Scheme.

The Hatton Fruit Garden, formerly the walled kitchen gardens of Bradbourne House, consists of demonstration fruit tree plantings displaying 25 different fruit training methods, plus 47 varieties of apple, 28 varieties of pear and individuals of medlar, cherry, nectarine, peach and fig. Originally planted in 1945 and inspired by the fruit plantings in Louis XIV kitchen garden at Versailles, the fruit garden was set up as a memorial to the art of tree training and pruning and as a source of information for gardening enthusiasts. Although selective tree removal and replanting has occurred, many examples of the original planting remain.

Bradbourne House, will also be opened to the public for the only time in 2007. The house displays excellent examples of Queen Anne period architecture disguising an original Tudor period house, with fine rooms, halls, staircases and a unique collection of watercolours and portraits.

There will be displays by scientists from world-renowned East Malling Research, including the ever popular minibeasts, strawberry tasting and food chain exhibits not to mention the skulls in the cellar. Music will be provided by the Tamarisk Trio plus a group of enthusiasts will entertain visitors with a medley of 16^th century music. In addition, there will be juice and plant sales, children’s quiz and refreshments.

Admission £3.00. Children (under 16) free. Entrance on New Road, East Malling, Kent off the A20.

2. Digital photograph of fruit trees in Hatton Garden, Bradbourne House pruned into fan or arch shapes, available on request.

22 May 2007

East Malling Research (EMR) has been awarded a three year contract by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to genetically fingerprint all 2300 apples and over 250 pears of the National Fruit Collection.

Scientists at EMR will use DNA markers called microsatellites, to produce individual profiles for each tree. This will help curators to verify the uniqueness of material in these collections. It will also assist in the identification of trees previously unnamed after traditional morphological comparisons. Detection of duplicates and incorrectly named accessions will enable streamlining of the National Fruit Collection, help to reduce costs and allow duplicated plants to be replaced by other accessions.

EMR has already fingerprinted the first half of the 545 pears and 200 cherries of the National Fruit Collection. Two previously unknown pairs of identical pear accessions were identified as Vermont Beauty and Southworth, and Jean de Witte and Blickling, and scientists confirmed that another accession identified as Achan was in fact Autumn Bergamot. An unexpected finding was the discovery of a high level of triploid pears at 20%, compared to the 5-10% expected. This has implications for conventional breeding, for which triploid plants have limited use. Interestingly, of the first batch of 100 cherries fingerprinted, only 50% were found to be unique.

The collection is being verified using a set of reference microsatellite markers approved in collaboration with other international groups. The UK’s national collection will therefore be directly comparable with those from other countries.

On completion, examination of the diversity of material within the collection could help to detect significant gaps in varieties or groupings. In addition, through the application of more involved analyses, scientists could determine how distinct e.g. the perry, Asian and European (Pyrus) pears in the collection are from each other, or the extent to which apple and pear cultivars have captured the range of variation in wild relatives.

Emma-Jane Allen, Imperial College’s scientific curator of the collections said “Genetic fingerprinting of the apple and pears will allow a substantial increase in the efficiency of curating these collections. We also hope that the fingerprints will reveal information about the relationships between apple and pear varieties conserved in the National Fruit Collections.”

3 July 2007

Three new strawberry varieties and a raspberry variety from the breeding programmes at East Malling Research (EMR) have been named. ‘Amelia’, ‘Lucy’ and ‘Sallybright’ are all June-bearing strawberry varieties, while ‘Malling Juno’ is a summer fruiting raspberry. ‘Amelia’ and ‘Sallybright’ will be launched at 12.30pm on the Meiosis Limited stand (M2) at this year’s Fruit Focus, to be held at EMR on 25 July.

‘Amelia’ (formerly EM1103) is a late season variety, which crops 12-15 days later than Elsanta. ‘Amelia’ produces attractive, mid red coloured, regular shaped berries, which have good firmness and have an excellent shelf life. The late cropping season, improved shelf life and berry colour mean that ‘Amelia’ is well placed as an alternative to the variety ‘Florence’.

‘Lucy’ (formerly EM931) is a mid-season variety, which produces excellent yields of large berries, which are very firm and have an attractive mid-red colour. ‘Lucy’ is a grower friendly variety, which has performed well in trials conducted on pick-your-own farms and less intensive growing systems. With its good tolerance to rain damage, ‘Lucy’ is well suited for traditional field production without the use of polythene tunnels.

‘Sallybright’ (formerly EM1296) crops slightly earlier than Elsanta and produces very regular shaped berries, which have an excellent flavour. The berries are juicy and have an attractive, glossy, red to deep red colour. ‘Sallybright’ will be particularly interesting for PYO and direct market growers, but is not considered to be suitable marketing through the multiple retailers.

‘Malling Juno’ (formerly EM6544/80) starts to crop at a similar date to Glen Moy, but Juno’s season is more condensed and the 50% pick date can be 2 weeks before that of Glen Ample. The fruit quality of ‘Malling Juno’ is superior to Glen Moy, the berries having an attractive mid-red colour, and are brighter and firmer than Moy and have a good flavour.

East Malling Research (EMR) will also offer visitors to Fruit Focus an opportunity to speak directly with their scientists and view the latest results of their soft fruit research, on a guided walk around nearby plots. Topics on show will include:

Visitors to the show can sign up for these tours at EMR’s stand, which will also highlight EMR’s other current Horticulture LINK projects.

The Kent Horticultural Bursary for 2007 is now open. This award, for up to £1,000, is open to individuals or groups with a genuine interest in horticulture. The award can be for a study tour, project or piece of research work in any area of horticulture.

The Kent Horticultural Bursary is funded by the Kent Horticultural Discussion Group, which supports professional development in the horticultural industry and provides a social forum to share ideas and information. East Malling Research (EMR), a leading R&D organisation, has hosted the group since its outset. The award winner will present a report at the Annual Meeting of the Kent Horticultural Discussion Group.

Last year’s winner, James West, will be presenting his study on composting in the UK and Canada, at EMR in October.

Chris Atkinson, Head of Science at EMR, says “This bursary provides a real opportunity for an individual to explore an innovative idea, which can then be developed by the industry”

Further information and application forms for the bursary are available on the website www.kenthb.org.uk. Applications must include a fully planned and costed proposal and be received by 5pm on 1^st September 2007. For any additional queries please email enquiries@kenthb.org.uk.

1. East Malling Research (EMR) is an independent provider of research and consultancy serving the food chain and other sectors of the land-based industry. EMR builds on 90 years experience of successfully delivering cutting edge research and development. www.eastmallingresearch.com

2. The Kent Horticultural Bursary can trace its links back over 30 years to when the Kent Nursery Stock Training Group was founded. A number of local nurseries recognised the need for professional training and a social forum. Monthly meetings developed into a Discussion Group giving members a chance to share ideas and information to grow their businesses. Recently, it was decided that moneys built up in reserves should be put to a good use in the horticultural field. The Kent Horticultural Bursary was formed to distribute these funds to worthwhile horticultural projects. It is run and supported by leading members of the horticultural community with the aim to help individuals or groups pursue relevant projects.

2) Chris Lane, The Granary, Callaways Lane, Newington, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 7LU

3) Garry Norris, Coolings Nurseries Ltd, Ruchmore Hill, Knockholt, Sevenoaks, TN14 7NN

18 September 2007

“Apple Days at East Malling” will be the first public open event in five years to be held by world-renowned East Malling Research (EMR). This fun event for all the family is hosted in celebration of the now annual “Apple Day” inspired by Common Ground.

For fruit enthusiasts, the event will feature up to 600 varieties of apple from the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale plus a display on how and why EMR is genetically fingerprinting this important fruit museum. EMR’s experts will also offer advice on fruit pest and disease management, tips on grafting and pruning and show some of EMR’s up-to-date research in the area of organic fruit production.

In addition there will be farm tours and a programme of seminars with topics including, tales from the orchard, fruit breeding, natural methods of pest control, apple storage and fruit for health.

Younger visitors can enjoy a range of activities including interactive science displays, getting up close with animals from Miller’s Ark children’s farm, have their faces painted or demonstrate their artistic talents painting pots themselves or perhaps Gary the musical clown will inspire with his science shows.

Those who want to take it easy, could while away some time at the cider bar, peruse the food, drink and plant market, look over the arts and craft stalls, be entertained by jazz singer Clare Durling and the Boughton Monchelsea Morris Dancers, or enjoy light refreshments from the restaurant.

Admission for adults will be £4.00, Children (3 - 16) £2.00, Family (2+2) £10.00. Entrance opposite the King and Queen pub on New Road, East Malling, Kent off the A20.

East Malling Research announces the 2007 Amos Memorial Lecture which will be delivered by Prof. David James, world-renowned plant biotechnologist. The lecture is entitled "Genetic Modification (GM) of Crops in the UK - a missed opportunity or a predictable outcome?" Prof. James will provide an up-date on global developments in GM and plant molecular pharming.

Until his retirement, Professor James worked on the molecular biology and plant tissue culture of fruit plants. His laboratory was the first to report the production of transgenic apples (1987) and strawberries (1988). He is still involved in field trials of these plants at two leading American universities examining the role of gene silencing in the control of fruit shelf life and the dwarfing of fruit trees. Professor James is currently part of a consortium that has received funding from the DTI for a 3 year programme to examine the economic feasibility of using transgenic plants to produce high value, low volume therapeutic proteins and peptides used in the control of cancer and HIV Aids.

The Amos Memorial Lecture has been scheduled to follow “A Day of DNA” a symposium delivered by EMR scientists for all those who want to learn more about the basics of DNA, the techniques used to study DNA and their applications. Topics will include an introduction to DNA and analysis techniques and their use in forensic studies, predator/prey interactions and biodiversity investigations. In addition, the applications and uses of molecular techniques in breeding studies will be covered.

The symposium should appeal to all people who want to update their knowledge and understanding of DNA including those who review funding applications, administer or monitor projects containing DNA-based research, teach or study science or horticulture.

“A Day of DNA” begins at 10.15am and finishes at 2.30pm. The cost, including lunch will be £10 for EMRA members and students or £20 for non-members. The event will be registered for BASIS and NRoSO points.

The Amos Lectures were established in 1947 in memory of Jesse Amos, Manager/Recorder at the East Malling Research Station. EMR continue to support these public lectures, delivered by a recognised authority in a particular field, to highlight important advances and issues in horticultural science.

Molecular pharming - use of plants as a platform for large-scale production of high-value biomolecules which are scientifically, medically or industrially interesting, as an alternative to conventional production systems using bacteria, yeast, animal, and insect cell cultures.

East Malling Research (EMR) is an independent provider of research and consultancy serving the food chain and other sectors of the land-based industry. EMR builds on 90 years experience of successfully delivering cutting edge research and development. www.eastmallingresearch.com

Ref No:720/07 25 October 2007

East Malling Research welcomes the Far East

- Media Call -

Date: Monday 29 October

Time: 1pm

Location: East Malling Research, New Road, East Malling, Kent, ME19 6BJ. Tel. 01732 843833

Details:

Next Monday, world-renowned East Malling Research (EMR) will showcase some of its research and expertise in the area of tree fruits, to a high-profile delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture in China.

The delegation is visiting the county to learn from Kent’s expertise in fruit-growing and to discuss developments in the fruit-growing industry.

Alex King, Deputy Leader of The Council, and Roger Gough, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Supporting Independence, will welcome the group during a buffet lunch of locally-produced Kentish produce at 1pm.

This visit has been organised by the China-Britain Business Council, and is in response to a trip to China last year by a national Agribusiness delegation from the UK.

During last year’s visit, delegation members from Kent were able to highlight the county’s expertise within the fruit industry and are now welcoming their Chinese colleagues to EMR for a closer look.

Scientists from the research centre will showcase some of their latest orchard management research, including developments to optimise the use of chemicals, reduce pesticide inputs and apply integrated pest and disease management strategies. The visitors will be given the chance to learn about how these sorts of methods are combined to produce pesticide residue-free fruit.

The delegates will also learn about EMR’s novel approaches to optimising irrigation and reducing use of water in horticultural production. Finally, they will see how EMR is investigating storage options for the pick of the crop, with a visit to its fruit storage research facility.

Roger Gough is looking forward to welcoming the visit:

“This is an excellent opportunity to showcase Kent’s talents in the horticultural industry. As a major fruit-growing county, we have a lot of expert knowledge and sharing that expertise allows us to have a direct, positive impact on the industry’s development. Strengthening the relationship with our colleagues in China also means that we can learn from them to further support Kent’s fruit-growers.”

If you would like to attend this event, please contact Philip Scrivener or Kate Nowowiecki at Kent County Council Press Office on 01622 694013 or 694932 or email phil.scrivener@kent.gov.uk or kate.nowowiecki@kent.gov.uk

…ends…

Notes to editors:

The full programme runs from 10:30am until 2:45pm and media are invited to attend any of the sessions. A full programme for the day is available on request.
East Malling Research (EMR) is an independent provider of research and consultancy serving the food chain and other sectors of the land-based industry. EMR builds on 90 years experience of successfully delivering cutting edge research and development. www.eastmallingresearch.com

More news releases are available online at www.kent.gov.uk/news

13 November 2007

NEW PROJECT TO INVESTIGATE HOW TO REDUCE THE WASTAGE OF FRESH PRODUCE BY CONSUMERS

East Malling Research (EMR) is leading a new project supported by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) that aims to help consumers reduce their fresh fruit and vegetable food waste.

Currently, a large amount of food bought in the UK is thrown away and about 40% (by weight) of food thrown away that could have been eaten, is fresh fruit and vegetables. There is considerable scope to improve this situation through better management in the home. The project will provide unique data on fresh fruit and vegetables storage and wastage in the home and how the consumer can use simple methods to prolong freshness. This will be achieved by:

Project manager Dr Neil Hipps said ‘Consumers have told us that they need better advice on how to store their fruit and vegetable properly to retain freshness. Working with our project partners and WRAP we shall provide this information underpinned by scientific experiments.’

Project partners include Sainsbury’s, Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL), Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre at the University of Bristol and Mack Multiples Division.

The increasing emphasis on identifying genes and developing DNA markers that would improve the efficiency of breeding programmes and management of genetic resources across a plant family was discussed at a recent international meeting hosted by East Malling Research (EMR).

Forty delegates from nine European countries attended the highly successful meeting on the subject of Rosaceous Genomics research to consider how genetic knowledge across this plant family can help with crop improvement.

The Rosaceae includes many of the UK's important fruit crops and ornamentals - such as apple, pear, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, rowan and rose. Similarities between the crops at the molecular level mean that knowledge of agronomic genes and markers in one crop can now be a short-cut to finding them in another. Thus, for example, the wild strawberry, a small herbaceous plant with a short lifespan, can be used as a genetic model for not only the cultivated strawberry but also tree fruits such as apple and cherry.

Advantages include using molecular screening to detect the presence of resistance genes and using DNA fingerprints to identify plants in gene-bank collections which save both time and resources by reducing the need for expensive comparative trials.

Recent advances in all the important crops were presented. The three topics most discussed were the genes controlling flowering in strawberry, disease resistance genes in all rosaceous fruit crops and the genetics of self incompatibility in cherry, plum, almond and pear. These topics are important to plant breeders who are aiming to develop improved cultivars for these species that are more productive and less susceptible to diseases.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of plans for a European Rosaceous Genomics Initiative with a view to securing European funding for collaborative research.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY POINSETTIAS HAVE EXTENDED QUALITY IN SHELF- AND HOME-LIFE TESTS

Researchers at East Malling Research (EMR) have found that Poinsettia plants grown commercially using a novel irrigation technique not only have improved plant quality at market, but also throughout shelf- and home-life tests.

In poinsettias grown using these deficit irrigation methods, leaf and bract drop were reduced by 50% and 90% respectively, compared to well-watered plants.

Deficit irrigation is a technique that replaces only a percentage of the water that the plant loses. This stimulates the plant to produce hormones that can influence plant ‘robustness’ and improve tolerance to the stresses encountered during distribution and retailing. This technique not only reduces water use, but also reliance on plant growth regulators (PGRs) used in normal commercial production. These are labour intensive to apply and are reported to pose risks to the environment.

The work follows on from experiments conducted last season, in which Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) was used on a commercial scale for the first time using a flood-and-drain system at Staplehurst Nurseries. A six-week RDI regime used during the period of rapid growth successfully reduced stem extension so that plant heights were well within specifications at simulated market date. RDI-treated plants received only 1 PGR spray shortly after ‘pinching’, compared to the 9 or 10 sprays needed to control height in the conventionally-irrigated plants.

Research leader Dr Mark Else says “Our research at Staplehurst Nurseries has shown that growers could use RDI to produce poinsettias with excellent shape and colour, as an alternative to intensive PGR spray programmes. In addition to saving water, other benefits include an improved shelf- and home-life thereby reducing wastage and reduced environmental pollution”.

2. This work has been funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Defra project code HH3609TX. www.defra.org.uk

3. Commercial trialling was carried out at Staplehurst Nurseries, Clapper Lane, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0JT.

4. Poinsettia – (Euphorbia pulcherrima) was named after Colonel Joel Roberts Poinsett of the US army and the first US Ambassador to Mexico (1825-9). He grew them himself and sent some back to botanical gardens in the USA. "Pulcherrima" means "most beautiful". It originated in Mexico and Central America and in the wild; these plants are bare-branched small trees. Most people know traditional red poinsettias at Christmas, but they also come in peach, pink, lemon, cream, and with white and gold-splashed leaves.

Image 1: Flood-and-drain irrigation of RDI poinsettia at Staplehurst Nurseries.

Image 2: Effects of RDI on plant height at simulated market date. The RDI plants (centre) received only 1 PGR spray. The commercial control (left) and well-watered plants (right) needed up to 10 PGR sprays to control plant height. All plants were well within the height specifications imposed by the retailers.