Tesco apple and pear buyer Martin de la Fuente has questioned the logic of launching the English apple season with “the worst apple there is”.
In an interview with the Journal - see page 20-21 - de la Fuente suggested that Discovery, which the retailer continues to stock due to programme commitments, should probably not be used to flag up the arrival of the English season. He said: “...the trade at large tells me that it [Discovery] is a rubbish apple and if this is the case, the fact that it is available early is not an issue. We should not be promoting the start of the English apple season with the worst apple there is.”
The volume of Discovery has been dwindling during the last few seasons, but its earliness, and the eagerness of multiple retailers to get into the English season before their rivals, has led to poor on-shelf performance being overlooked to a certain degree.
Tesco supplier Norman Collett will be participating in PR and promotional work in the print and broadcast media in the first week of August, to kick off the season with Discovery. “I don’t disagree with what Martin has said,” Andy Sadler, md of Norman Collett, said. “Discovery is not the best apple in the world - it is susceptible to canker, has a short shelf life and the planted area is diminishing. But there is a demand for an early English apple, as consumers have had a bellyful of imports, and every year to date there has been a fuss made over Discovery.
“It is an evolutionary process. The English industry has been conducting research to try and find a better early English variety, but as yet, we haven’t got there. Until we do, the general public will still want Discovery.”
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