Bad weather dealt a blow to UK Cameo apple producers this season, with yields far below expectations.
Volumes are similar to last year at around 300 tonnes, said European manager Fiona Davidson, although growers had been expecting around 500 to 600t.
Davidson said the season is currently in mid flow and supplies will hold out through to the end of February.
“We had some bad weather last year and also some instances of scab in some of the orchards, so its been a bit disappointing this year. However, we’re hoping for a good season next year, with about 800t.”
She said they would continue to promote the brand, with tasting sessions in a number of retailers including Tesco and Somerfield. They would also be building on their relationships with Booths and the Co-operative Group who she said were keen to take more Cameo this season.
“We’re also doing a promotion with Budgens on packaged Cameo, four for the price of six.”
The groups’ plans to market Cameo juice however, have not yielded results, she said: “We’ve done some trials and we know the juice is very popular, but we need to get involved with some juicing companies, because it is a completely different business to producing and selling apples.”
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