The Bramley Campaign Group recently announced the winners of this year’s Brammy Awards following the judging event on Friday July 23. Asda won an award for best individual apple pies and M&S’s pork and Bramley sausages were awarded Best Bramley Savoury Product. “We are always amazed at the sheer volume and diversity of Bramley products available to the customer,” says Ian Mitchell, chairman of the Bramley Campaign, “and this year we were literally bowled over. Yet again the media has done a fantastic job supporting the campaign and helping to ensure that Bramley remains relevant to the modern day consumer.”
The Bramley Apple Campaign Group has worked tirelessly in recent years to raise the profile of Bramley apples, and, says chief executive of English Apples & Pears, Adrian Barlow, it is very important that media, foodservice, manufacturers and all the companies who have given Bramley support, are thanked - especially in light of last year’s volume shortages. “The situation was very difficult,” says Barlow. “The Northern Ireland crop was dreadful - just 12,000 tonnes, and as a result of a low crop the year before that, there was no carry over which accentuated the shortfall. Insufficient product meant that a lot of blending went on in the catering and manufacturing sectors with the use of imported product from across the globe. In the bakery sector, in particular, the situation led to an increase in the use of product in cans.”
Canned product from China caused a huge problem last year to the processing industry in the US, Barlow continues. “There has always been a big market for cans of sliced product and these have traditionally come from China, Italy or Hungary, depending on which is cheapest. Over the years, Hungary has become less active in this area and China has become much more active. And with fresh product for processing coming into the UK from the Eastern bloc, there has been great sadness that there has been insufficient home product to meet demand.”
Last year’s shortage of fresh product was well-documented at the time, but, says Barlow, the effects have been acutely felt from February to the present. “This year we have seen a situation that can only be described as hand to mouth,” says Barlow. “We have got through it but it was very much touch and go. Because the product wasn’t available to fill demand, Bramley was unable to carry out promotions with its customers in terms of retailers, foodservice or catering. Northern Ireland’s growers, in particular, have faced hardship and experienced huge financial problems. It has been very difficult all round.”
Last year, although many growers had a below average crops, prices were generally good. “It is important to stress that any profits that were made last year and the year before in England only served to partially redress a difficult financial situation caused by inadequate returns in the past,” says Barlow. “There has been no continuity when it comes to returns.”
Initial reports suggest that this season looks to be more promising than last. Although, says Norman Collett md Andy Sadler, the jury is out on whether there will be good volumes there compared to last year. “Generally speaking everyone was short on crop last year but this season we are hoping for a bit more volume in order to supply our customers 12 months of the year,” says Sadler. “Because of the problems last year we had difficulties doing that this year and the previous year was a similar story. For most part the sizing is good - there are no issues with quality and the skin finish of the fruit is a good dark green.”
Bramley is also faring well at Boxford Farms thanks to good weather. “We have got very good sizes and skin colouration,” says farm manager Andrew Cranston, “and so everything is on course for a good year. Last year was very light but there didn’t seem to be a particular reason for that although there was a little late frost last year.”
Although it is still early days, Barlow predicts that the English crop will be around the same size as last year but with a better grade out which will help to increase volume while Northern Ireland’s crop will be of average size which will help the supply balance between the two sources.
Because promotions were stopped last year Bramley campaigners now have a mammoth task ahead of them to recover the business they lost over blended product. “A key focus of our forthcoming promotions will be to recover what we have lost,” says Barlow, “and to persuade customers who de-listed products to reinstate them. Bramley has long been regarded as a premium product and it is far superior to any other. It is important for us to be able to persuade customers back to that way of thinking.”
Although last year promotions with customers were abandoned, the Bramley Campaign itself was still very much active. “We ran Bramley Apple Pie Week in early October last year with activities in conjunction with Woman’s Weekly, which ran cookery demonstrations in shopping centres with its cookery editor who explained how to cook with Bramley apples, and there was also a competition to find the best cook of a Bramley apple pie,” says Barlow. “In order to focus Bramley on particular days, recipes have been designed to celebrate such occasions as Halloween, Christmas and St George’s Day. Bramley Apple Week, which was held earlier in February, had activities with the Mirror Group to find the UK Bramley Family and the Daily Mirror ran a four page supplement dedicated to Bramley.”
In terms of investing in the future, the Bramley Campaign Group is undertaking activity in two separate areas. “We have recognised the importance of chefs using Bramley apples in their recipes,” says Barlow, “and have created an innovation competition for trainee chefs. The overall aim is to include Bramley in the curriculum at catering colleges and to make young chefs aware that Bramley is hugely versatile both in savoury and sweet dishes. These people will be tomorrow’s chefs and so this is hugely beneficial for the future. This is the second year we have run this competition and it has been a huge success so we will definitely be carrying it on.”
Last September a programme was initiated with Key Stage 2 children using Bramley as a teaching aid. “This was the result of consumer research that indicated that children have a strong interest in cooking so we created a programme and developed a website - www.applesource.co.uk. We have managed to incorporate Bramley into a huge amount of areas in the curriculum - and have sent posters out to 15,000 schools. The programme was up and running last September, we have had good feedback so far and we are very pleased at the moment because The Bramley Campaign’s educational website has achieved accreditation from the National Grid for Learning (NGfL), part of the Department of Education and Skills.
“Ultimately,” says Barlow, “we are very conscious of the fact that many consumers in the past have learned about Bramley from their grandparents - but that is something that does not happen so much now and there is a big gap. We know that our weakest consumer group is the young married sector that are very busy and have no time to cook. So, if we can encourage children to make simple recipes with Bramley and explain that five minutes in the microwave is all you need to cook a Bramley then we can make a difference.”
The Bramley Campaign Group has worked hard to identify a product that is only produced in the UK and has superior qualities. “We are fortunate that it is such a brilliant product to work with,” says Barlow. “It has been around for almost 200 years and yet it is still streets ahead of the competition. It is just a glorious product and it is well supported by the UK multiples who recognise a product that consumers want to buy.”
Assuming this year sees a reasonable crop, Barlow would like to see more shelf space given to Bramley and improved signs instore along with recipes for simple dishes alongside for people who are not familiar with cooking. “We want everyone to be a Bramley user,” he says.
And well they might. “We also grow Howgate and Grenadier which are both cooking apples,” says Cranston, “but the industry does prefer Bramley - it keeps its shape very well and it is an apple that has stood the test of time.”
“There is always someone willing to buy Bramley,” Sadler concludes. “We thought that perhaps sales would decrease in the hot weather, but they are in fact very strong. We are looking forward to having Bramley back in the shops, and having 100 per cent supply.”
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