Jazz has been voted the UK’s tastiest apple, winning the prize at last week’s National Fruit Show in Kent.
The Braeburn-Royal Gala cross, which has now been grown in the UK for 10 years, won first and second prize in the Tastiest Apple category at the event for the top fruit and soft fruit sectors. It was the third time in five years the club variety has won the award.
This year, the first-placed Jazz were grown by Peter Chandler at grower Chandler and Dunn, which has been farming in East Kent for over 200 years. The second place entry was grown by Simon Bray of Monks Farms, also in Kent.
Gary Harrison of Worldwide Fruit, the UK commercial manager for Jazz, commented: “What a way to celebrate the start of the UK northern hemisphere Jazz season and celebrate the 10thanniversary of British-grown Jazz.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to see the variety claim the top two places in the category, but the praise has to go to the Chandler and Dunn team for their hard work.
“Winning this prestigious award will hopefully help introduce the variety to even more consumers and further cement the variety’s place as the ‘apple to watch’ in the coming years.”
Chandler added: “We were amongst the first UK growers to plant Jazz trees so it’s great to win this award as the variety hits its 10-year British milestone.
“Credit has to go to my team as they have worked their socks off but Jazz has all the attributes a fruit grower wants so it’s a pleasure to grow.“
Jazz is the joint fastest-growing apple variety in the UK and recently overtook Golden Delicious to become the sixthmost popular variety, with over 125 million consumed in 2016. The retail value of the brand now stands at £44m – an increase of 19 per cent year on year.
