Fancy your own fresh juice — or even a homemade cider?

Got more apples than you can eat? Each year, Brighton Permaculture Trust processes fruit for dozens of individuals, community groups, and orchards across Sussex. Whether you’ve got a garden full of windfalls or a well-established orchard, we can juice your apples or pears and bottle them for you to enjoy throughout the year.

Why juice with us?

We operate from The Fruit Factory in Stanmer Park, where our team presses, bottles, and pasteurises your fruit safely and efficiently.

Juicing with us means you can:

  • Reduce waste – Put surplus fruit to good use.
  • Enjoy your own produce – Tasty juice made from your own trees.
  • Support a local project – Your fees help fund our scrumping and community work.
  • Eco-friendly process – Low food miles, minimal waste, and reused bottles where possible.
  • Get hands-on – Join in the juicing process with your children or community. It’s fun, educational, and a great way to connect with where your food comes from.
children juicing apples

Juicing your own apples

Fresh juice from your own fruit (some other local apples may be included).

Bring your hand-picked apples to The Fruit Factory, and we’ll wash them, mill them into pulp with our Scratter, and press the juice using our mains-water-operated Apple Press. Fresh juice will be supplied back to you in one-litre plastic bottles, ready to drink or freeze. Fresh juice must be consumed within three days, unless pasteurised or frozen.

Windfall apples? Make your own cider

Apples fallen from the tree are not suitable for fresh juice due to food hygiene concerns, but they can be pressed for cider-making. We’ll press the juice for you to ferment at home. Mixed batches of hand-picked and windfall apples are fine for cider. Cider takes about eight months to mature — plan ahead for next summer.

juice

Pricing

£3.50 per bottle for pasteurised juice in 500ml glass bottles,

£2.50 per bottle for raw, unpasteurised juice in 1ltr plastic bottles (can be frozen). Must be collected on the weekend of pressing.

If you supply your own container:

  • For Health and Safety reasons this can be plastic or glass, but remember that while plastic containers can be frozen, glass bottles shouldn’t be put into a freezer.
  • It’s your responsibility to sterilise it, either with boiling water or with Milton-type of sterilising tablet/fluid.
  • The juice for cider can be put straight into a glass demijohn, or a plastic container.

Exchange fruit for juice

How it works:

  • Bring any amount under 60kg
  • We weigh your fruit and offer juice in exchange
  • You’ll receive already bottled juice (not from your own apples)
  • Juice is £3.95 per bottle — your fruit’s value determines how many bottles you get

Label your apples: Hand-picked for juice, Windfalls for cider only.

A great option if you have just a few trees, want to contribute to local food production, and enjoy juice without letting fruit go to waste.

apples for juicing

Donate your surplus fruit

No time to juice it yourself? Simply donate your surplus apples, pears, plums, or other fruits to our Scrumped in Sussex project.

You won’t receive bottles in return, but you’ll be helping prevent food waste and supporting a local environmental charity. Every donation helps us create juice and cider that funds our work and supports community food initiatives.

Upcoming: Apple Blossom Day

Celebrate the beauty of the orchard in bloom! Join us for a free, family-friendly afternoon of music, talks, orchard tours, and our famous crumble, cider and juice stall. Come enjoy the blossom, learn about permaculture, and welcome the season together. Sunday 26 April, 1–5pm.

Apple Blossom Day 2026

Get Involved

There are various ways you can contribute to our mission and get involved with Brighton Permaculture Trust. Explore the opportunities and join us on the journey towards a more resilient world.

Find us every Saturday & Sunday at The Fruit Factory in Stanmer Park and treat yourself to our exquisite products!