Between them, Aldi and Lidl took almost half the apples sold by BAPL growers in September, while Sainsbury’s bought nearly a third of British pears
British apple and pear growers harvested strong volumes of fruit in the first month of the domestic season, but not all UK supermarkets were quick to stock their shelves.
Trade body British Apples and Pears (BAPL) reported that Aldi and Lidl both hit the ground running in September. Indeed, one in four British apples grown by BAPL growers were sold to Aldi (27.5 per cent). Lidl also started very well, taking 20.7 per cent (1,401 tonnes) of all British apples in the month.
These percentages far outstrip the discounters’ respective market shares of 9.8 per cent (Aldi) and 8.1 per cent (Lidl).
“Aldi really was the standout performer,” said BAPL executive chair Ali Capper. “The supermarket more than quadrupled its volume compared to September 2023 – from 405 tonnes in September last year to 1,862 tonnes in September 2024.”
Tesco, meanwhile, had a surprisingly slow start to the new British apple season. The retailer ranked fourth in the September 2024 league table (see below), taking just 13.9 per cent (938 tonnes), well behind Aldi and Lidl. This is just under half their total grocery market share of 28 per cent.
Sainsbury’s also took a relatively low volume of British apples, buying only 14 per cent (949 tonnes) of the new-season crop, compared to their grocery market share of 15.2 per cent.
Asda is also worthy of a mention as it took 7.9 per cent (531 tonnes), which is a huge improvement on the retailer’s September 2023 volume of just 86 tonnes.
“It’s early days,” conceded Capper, “but we know from our social media channels that shoppers get very frustrated when they are looking for new-season British apples in the supermarkets and can’t find them. That’s why we really need all the supermarkets to be quick off the mark at the start of the season.”
Lidl and Aldi also performed strongly on British pear sales in September 2024. Lidl took 29.1 per cent (239 tonnes) while Aldi took 25.7 per cent (211 tonnes). However, the discounters were pipped to the top spot by Sainsbury’s. In September, Sainsbury’s took almost a third (32.4 per cent) of all British pears sold by BAPL growers.
Here are the September sales figures in full:
Full details of monthly sales by BAPL members can be viewed here.
