Overall topfruit sales may be in slight decline, but supermarket demand for homegrown apples is rising as the multiples bring in large volumes of English produce.
Value and volume sales of topfruit slipped by 1.1 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively in the 52 weeks to 11 September but the final figures for the 2015-16 season showed strong revenues in English apples. Sales to the multiples rose by over 10 per cent, with Sainsbury’s and Tesco leading the way in English apple sales.
Discounters Aldi and Lidl are also giving homegrown topfruit “tremendous support”, according to OrchardWorld’s chief executive Mark Culley. And research commissioned by English Apples & Pears predicts that demand for British produce is set to enjoy a ‘Brexit bounce’, with consumers becoming more patriotic and seeking out homegrown products.
Looking to profit from this surge in demand for British, apple growers have been investing in attempts to stretch the growing season, which currently lasts around nine months for most varieties. “We are looking at ways of extending the season for British apples,” says Ross Goatham, who runs AC Goatham & Son alongside his father Clive. “This includes varieties that can be stored for longer, as well as those like Zari that have an earlier season.” The sweet-sharp variety, which has a red-striped blush, was available at Sainsbury’s in the first week of September this year, while the producer is aiming to continue supply of Royal Gala into July 2017.
“The end consumer is very tuned in to buying British in this category,” says Goatham. “We need to support them as much as possible, simply by growing more fruit and having it available for a longer season.”
In order to boost production the firm recently unveiled a new packhouse that will include a six-lane, 36 outlet pre-grader capable of handling 20 tonnes of fruit per hour. “This will allow us to grade fruit both externally and internally, while also measuring qualities such as size and colour,” says Goatham. “It will make our operation more efficient on many levels.”
In terms of varieties, Royal Gala remains by far the most popular type – the variety accounts for a quarter of total production in the dessert apple category. And demand for other sweet high-colour varieties is growing according to Chingford Fruit’s category insight manager Jo Mumford, who believes this is where the opportunities lie going forward. “Going into this season, demand has shifted towards special, higher-colour, sweeter-profile varieties such as Pink Lady,” she says. “Standard varieties, meanwhile, have experienced some cannibalisation and shopper repertoire adjustment during the past year.”
Pink Lady, which is now the third-largest apple variety, has benefited from a successful marketing campaign, particularly over the past five years. The brand has enjoyed greatest sales growth among young women thanks to a targeted campaign and for three weeks in March the firm even decided to give away a free apple cosy with each 1kg bag of apples.
Kantar reports a 20 per cent increase in the consumption of Pink Lady in the past 12 months, but Culley warns that there could be a shortage of the Cripps Pink brand in the current season, with slightly less fruit coming out of South Africa due to above-average temperatures earlier in the year.
In pears, the key consumer trend is the growth of ripe-and-ready products, which AC Goatham commercial director Carol Ford hopes will “encourage a newer, younger audience to enjoy British Conference pears.” But slower rates of return than in most apple varieties continue to limit growers’ profits.
“When considering pears as an investment they simply don’t stack up against apples for many growers in the UK,” says Adrian Scripps MD, James Simpson. “The harsh reality is that continental pears are often cheaper to produce due to better growing conditions.”
Just 28,000 tonnes of pears are forecast for 2016 in the UK, compared to a whopping 678,000t in Italy, which leads the way in EU pear production. And this is largely down to the more favourable growing climate in southern Europe. “Our cooler wetter springs lead to poorer skin finish,” he says. “The continent has a warmer spring, giving better pollination and fruit size.”
Encouragingly, the current UK crop has been better than expected, Simpson says, and AC Goatham expects its new orchard plantings and growing methods to bring improved yields over the next three years.
Conference continues to dominate the pear market, accounting for around 85 per cent of British production, and while this is unlikely to change, OrchardWorld wants to see new varieties of blush pears coming through. “If Britain could grow good blush pears they would certainly have some market appeal,” says Culley. “They are tried and tested.”
