Volumes grown by members of the UK Cameo Club are roughly doubling year-on-year and, said Norman Collett md Andy Sadler (pictured), 2003 is no exception. 'We came back in with Cameo last week and, even having doubled the volumes to around 150 tonnes, we still have a small window this year. The oldest trees are only five years old and there is still a lot of young fruit to come through.

'Somerfield and Budgen's have been stocking the fruit so far and Tesco will begin next week – all three have been extremely supportive of what we are trying to achieve with the variety.' Norman Collett is the sole marketing agent for UK-grown Cameo, which is exclusive to the 25 members of the Cameo Club. Although new members are welcome, the concept behind producing limited volumes of top quality fruit is to keep the retail price ticket at a level that provides the necessary returns.

Somerfield for instance has so far retailed Cameo at £1.99 a kg, with barker cards putting the message across that the variety is English and, importantly, not simply an extension of the Gala season. While the price will come down in the next couple of weeks, the average return during the Cameo window will be relatively high.

Budgen's has been running a six-pack promotional offer and Tesco will join the party with specially-designed Cameo stickers saying 'Cameo – The secret's inside, taste it'.

Sadler said: 'This year's is a very good crop. It has good pressure and colour Cameo is renowned for its flavour - it was first and second in the tastiest apple category at last year's National Fruit Show.'

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