Autumn is as synonymous with the English apple and pear season as the top-fruit category is with home-grown fruit sold in the UK.
It is always a high-profile time of year for the sector, as promotional campaigns and rivalries over shelf space ensure media attention and get voices in the trade rumbling.
This season has been no different, with a number of strong promotions ensuring consumption enjoyed an upturn, added to by the return of children to school - an ever-important factor in a market so driven by lunchbox snacks.
The weather, for the first time in three seasons, offered a welcome respite and a helping hand to growers in the UK, with a frost-free spring creating optimum conditions for pollination, before good levels of sunshine meant that sugar levels ensured a good eating quality in the fruit. This could prove key in enforcing the view that English product is of exceptional quality.
Despite this, it has been far from plain sailing for many in the industry, as long-term problems add to short-term woes. First, the announcement that English apple crop forecasts had been revised downwards by around 20 per cent heightened competition in the market, as there was still enough product to ensure retailers were not short, but an increased feeling among growers that it may be difficult to attain good returns.
But the revision, in part created by dry weather in north and east Kent in August and September, has given some advantages, with good fruit sizes, few delays in picking and a reduction in quality issues created by rain in previous years.
In terms of individual lines, Gala is set to reach 30,000 tonnes, while growers are looking to defy aspersions cast on the popularity of Cox by returning a robust crop of 41,000t.
Rubens, Kanzi, Cameo and Jazz continue to show their increasing popularity among the public and growers, who are increasingly looking to new varieties to supplement their staple crops such as Braeburn - itself still on the rise. These “designer” varieties have a forecast crop of 5,000t, compared to the previous calculation of 7,000t that was released on August 1.
Organic apples have also seen some positive growth, despite only representing a small proportion of UK production.
The home-grown pear crop has also been revised downwards and is set to reach 30,000t, still up by around 7,000t on last year’s 23,000t. Conference sales have been first class this year, up by around 20 per cent, and one insider tells FPJ: “Conference pears have been doing really well this season and we are just hoping to receive prices from the retailers that are in line with the quality of the product.”
Strong crop figures, however, account for just half of the issue, as UK growers continue to complain that returns received on these crops are “unsustainable” and “prevent re-investment”.
One insider says supermarkets cannot continue to place such promotional prestige on the English offer, while offering current prices and continuing to employ the kind of tactics - such as adjusting prices and contracts mid-season or asking growers to pay for promotions - alleged by many in the English top-fruit industry.
But a leading figure in the industry told a conference last week that there needs to be some positivity in the UK industry, stating: “There really needs to be a change in the attitude from growers in this country as, if it carries on in the current vein, negativity will overcome businesses, they will go out of business or they will become unattractive to retailers who can source from elsewhere.”
Across European production regions, it has been a different story, with the effects of the credit crunch impacting belatedly on the apple sector, making it uncharacteristically flexible. One insider says: “They have been a lot more flexible on price and have recognised this is not the year to dig in their heels, as every sale is a good sale.
“Prices have been significantly lower, to the tune of around 10-15 per cent in Europe. The French have been very, very flexible, as they have seen the possibility of their market share being eroded by the likes of Portugal and Spain and have also seen the increased quality of fruit from eastern Europe. Italy is experiencing similar conditions and is being equally flexible on price, as well as looking at opportunities globally. It really depends on the Russian market, as there is still less fruit heading there.”
Gala, Braeburn, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith have already hit the market, while Pink Lady is still being sourced from the southern hemisphere.
Braeburn from Chile, New Zealand and South Africa has suffered quality issues, including bitterness, poor colouring and low pressure, and that is hitting the high-count wholesale sector the most. One source tells FPJ: “The multiples have done a little better on Braeburn but only due to polybags, which is a further shift away from loose, which is likely to continue to drive the multiple sector in the short term.”
Rumours of several growers in France locking up their crops in storage for two months abound as some French Granny Smith producers look to capitalise on hopes that they will receive better prices later in the season - something that could have a substantial effect on southern hemisphere growers and their returns.
Good quality and availability from Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands have kept prices strong and promotions aggressive on Conference pears, while Rocha pears from Portugal continue to put pressure on Italian and French Williams and Packhams.
One insider comments: “There is more availability on Rocha and, as the alternative is Williams from Italy, where there are many small-scale operators with less specific accreditations, it is becoming a more constant, long-term option, pushing Williams towards the premium, ripe and ready-to-eat market.”
BRITISH INNOVATION KEY FOR M&S
Having only recently started working with apples and pears, I have been pleasantly surprised at the vigour and level of innovation present in this sector, says Phillip Symons, foods buyer at Marks & Spencer.
This has not only been apparent in the varietal breeding programmes across the world, but also in areas such as new growing techniques, pesticide reduction programmes and the sophisticated marketing of specific club varieties. There certainly seems to be an appetite for change and continuous improvement that will undoubtedly help to re-invigorate and grow the sector going forward. For M&S, this is critical, as it enables us to differentiate our offer against that of the larger multiple retailers and exploit smaller parcels of fruit and varieties at an early stage when volumes are still limited. M&S has always been proud to act as a showcase for novelty and innovation in this sector.
Within the category, the importance of English apples has increased year on year, with the result that this season, more than 50 per cent of all apples sold in M&S will be English. Considering that we currently cannot source key varieties such as Pink Lady, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith from English producers, this is a very positive result. The main driver for this is the high proportion of Cox sales at M&S, which represent 40 per cent of our English apples, and the fact that we will be 100 per cent English on Gala and Braeburn in season.
Going forward, English growers have a great opportunity to increase production of popular varieties and substitute a large proportion of imports on Gala, Braeburn and Jazz. The key to this will be innovation and development of improved growing techniques, rejuvenation of orchards and, in particular, greater investment in good storage facilities.
For M&S, much import substitution in apples will have been achieved this year and we need to look further to increase our English offer. To do this, we need to develop existing but relatively new varieties such as Jazz and Amelia’s Apple (Altesse), which are continuing to grow in popularity. More of a challenge will be finding solutions for the consumer, who is currently buying non English-grown varieties by either finding ways of growing them in England or finding suitable alternatives. We are also looking at ways to drive the early-season English sales with good-quality apples to sell alongside Delbard Estivale, with which we had record sales this year.
To achieve these objectives, we need several factors in place - critically, the continued support of M&S suppliers and growers, many of whom we have worked with for many years. They need to continue to have the confidence to invest and innovate in projects that, in many cases, take years to complete. We also need breeders to target specific consumer needs with clearly differentiated products for the English consumer. We do not need a plethora of bi-coloured club varieties, which will end up fighting for space in an already congested and complicated fixture.
And lastly, we must at all costs avoid squandering the loyalty and good will that consumers have in relation to the English apple season by delivering poor-quality, poor-flavour product. England should be producing a high-quality, high-value product that delights the consumer, increases consumption and generates repeat sales.
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