The appropriately named Empire apple, exported from the north-eastern US, enjoys a special place on the UK market.
“For us the UK market is very specific,” explains Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association. “Because of the volumes we ship, it is beyond niche, but our number-one exporting apple to the UK is Empire. It is a good, red, dessert apple that is not a large fruiting variety so it is in the right size profile and with the right flavour components for the UK. It also has the right condition - the crunch.”
Empire began arriving commercially in the UK in the mid-1970s when the Union Jacks were flying for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
The season for Empire has grown in the ensuing decades and while 35 years ago it would start arriving in UK ports in the autumn and disappear from shelves by January or early February at the latest, its window has moved. As UK apple output has increased and with it storage know-how, exporters from overseas are respecting English growers’ natural season.
“Thirty-five years ago we would ship in the Fall, but now we have a new peak and ship from January into April, although we have been in the market as late as July in the past,” says Allen.
Empire traditionally was shipped alongside McIntosh from New York state and the north-eastern US, but trade in the soft, red dessert apple has waned since those days. “It is a genetically softer apple than Empire and is still popular in Scotland and Northern Ireland,” says Allen. “McIntosh is also celebrating its 200th birthday this year so we will have some campaign activity around that.
“We do grow other varieties - a lot of Gala, for example - but we just can’t compete in the UK with that. The UK is a mature market for Empire, but it is one that we want to hold onto.” -
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