The Fruit Industry Federation in Northern Ireland has moved to calm fears among the English top-fruit sector that it is trying to divide UK Bramley growers by applying for protected geographical indicator (PGI) status for Armagh Bramley apples.
Sammy MacNeice, chairman of the federation, told freshinfo: “We started this process 18 months ago. English Apples & Pears (EAP) and the National Farmers’ Union, I believe, raised a number of questions in the first consultation and we gave satisfactory answers. We are not hijacking Bramley, rather in seeking the designation for the archdiocese of Armagh, we are naming our Bramley as being grown here and we are not impinging on English Bramley in any way.”
DEFRA has found the application meets the relevant criteria and has recently written to interested parties to give them a final opportunity for comment before May 14 and the application’s referral to the European Commission.
But EAP is not happy with the progression of the federation’s application. EAP ceo Adrian Barlow told freshinfo: “We find it extraordinary that DEFRA thinks this application meets the criteria for PGI. We think that the whole industry should work together to promote the use of Bramley and that it is most unhelpful to do anything that is likely to cause fragmentation.”
However, MacNeice is adamant that his group’s actions will not break up the industry. He said: “We are not being at all divisive. It is just a question of explaining that our Bramley is grown in a different climate, with higher rainfall and over a longer growing period. This makes it distinctive in many ways and our conditions really do suit Bramley production.”
Meanwhile, EAP disputes these points of difference. Barlow said: “We do not believe that Bramley grown in Armagh is any different to that grown anywhere else in the UK. We accept that in any given year there will be variations because of the weather, but these are very marginal and not consistent. The whole essence of the application is flawed and unhelpful.”
MacNeice, however, is prepared to offer assistance to Kentish growers. He said: “What we have said is that if any English or Kentish growers want any help in any way in the PGI application process, then we are prepared to offer it. We are not being divisive.”
Both English and Armagh growers have been celebrating the Bramley bicentenary, with EAP out in force at the Malvern Show in April and Armagh’s growers holding Apple Blossom Week events next week to highlight the famous apple’s birthday.
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