Marks and Spencer has joined the ranks of retailers promising exclusive shelf-space for UK produce, following the announcement this week that it will only stock home grown Gala and Braeburn apples during the English season.
The supermarket is also offering a further boost to UK growers by introducing a selection of new UK-grown apples and pears. Forecasters have predicted that the chain is likely to sell 50 percent more English Gala, or one million apples, and over two million more English Braeburn apples.
M&S also began introducing its first English Williams pears from late August. The variety is said to be extremely hard to grow in the UK, and is therefore traditionally imported from Spain and Italy, but growers have managed to produce a limited volume of the fruit this season.
And M&S also reported that following a successful trial to grow UK organic apples, it will now have wide availability from mid-August to December.
Hugh Mowat, an agronomist for the chain, said: “In January, as part of our business wide £200m ‘eco-plan’, we announced our commitment to buy as much food from the UK and Ireland as possible. And we are delighted to be offering our customers more British fruit this autumn. We have worked with our growers in Kent, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Sussex and Cambridgeshire to help them grow more of our customers’ favourite varieties such as Galas and Braeburns, as well as introducing exclusive varieties such as Sunrise, Dalitron and Elliot Pear.
Mowat went on to say that the retailer and its growers have developed an exclusive ‘perfect pick’ protocol - a scientific index which requires fruit to be picked within three days of the perfect harvest date, with measures including starch content, sugar, size and colour. “This ensures that our growers always select the best tasting fruit for M&S,” he added.
Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples and Pears, told Commercial Grower that there are concerns that growers may be unable to meet the supermarket’s demand for Braeburn. “This season, it’s likely we’ll have a crop of just 7.5t tonnes, mostly due to hail damage. That’s about one third of the Gala crop.”
He added that English apples and pears have benefited hugely from the amount of publicity carbon footprinting is receiving. “There’s no doubt that food miles are a concern to consumers. They firmly believe that there is a link between carbon emissions and climate change, which is giving a huge boost to local suppliers.
“However, we shouldn’t discount that the industry has been emphasising for some time that UK apples have a better taste than others. That’s not just for traditional varieties like Cox - our climate means that in surveys, consumers have been of the view that English Gala has a better taste than any imported apples.”
“It’s important that as an industry, we recognise how fortunate we are, and don’t take this for granted.
Kent-based M&S grower Robert Hinge commented: “The message that M&S are sending out to the UK growers is a fabulous one - they really support the most popular British varieties and are open to try-out new home grown varieties, in their early stages of development.”
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