The English Apple Man followed up on his recent Supermarket survey of British v Imported apples & pears
The inspiration for my investigation into the percentage of British v Imported apples and pears on Supermarket shelves came from Kent grower David Budd, but hugely supported by British growers.
"Something seriously wrong with our fresh produce supply chain, to think there is zero profit in a beautiful crop of English Gala this year, and currently UK supermarkets are still selling French imports."
In early October The English Apple Man visited several Supermarkets in my locality to see for myself the balance of supply.
Click on: The Apple Industry in Crisis for an understanding of the surveillance process.
Market surveillance - 6th/7th October 2022
ASDA, Tesco, ALDI, Sainsburys and Waitrose (in that order).
ASDA - 26 trays of apples & pears. 5 UK. 19% - Beautiful banners supporting British Produce, but!
Very disappointing UK selection. Only 5 trays. One of Bramley. One of Worcester Pearmain and three Garden gang UK Gala.
TESCO - 41 trays of apples & pears. 8 UK. 19%
Better selection of UK apples: Red Windsor, Gala, Early Windsor, ZARI.
ALDI - 24 trays of apples & pears. 9 UK. 37%
Among the UK fruit, British Conference pears, Royal Gala, Mini apples (Gala) and Zari
SAINSBURYS - 45 trays of apples & pears. 15 UK. 33%
For the stage of the season a fair selection of UK apples: Cox, Gala, Robijn, Bramley, and Conference pears.
WAITROSE - 30 trays of apples & pears. 12 UK. 40%
Although overall display is modest by comparison to Tesco & Sainsbury, the selection of UK varieties and indeed individual suppliers is by far the best. Cox, Delbard Estivale. Smitten, Spartan, Royal Gala, Kissabel, Worcester Pearmain, plus Conference Pears and UK grown 'organic' Conference Pears.
This week The English Apple Man followed up with more visits in my locality to assess the 'status quo'
My first visit was to Sainsburys in Hasting East Sussex
SAINSBURYS - 45 trays of apples & pears. 16 UK trays of which 2 were pears. (35% British)
2 x British pears, the rest Cox, Gala, Fuji, Zari and Bramley.
TESCO - 40 trays of apples & pears. 9 UK trays (20% British) of which
2 trays of Cox apples, 2 small units of Organic Santana apples, 3 x Gala, 1 x 'Perfectly imperfect Gala apples. The rest from France. South Africa, Austria, New Zealand, Belgium and the Netherlands.
ALDI - 26 trays of apples and pears. 10 trays of British (35%)
British: Bramley, Cox, Rubens. Gala apples and Conference pears.
MORRISONS - 34 trays of apples and pears. 10 trays of British (29%)
Below: left; Morrisons Cox and right; Morrisons Gala
ASDA - 18 trays of apples & pears - 3 British (16%). 1 Gala. 1 Cox, 1 Bramley.
Imported Granny Smith France, Jonagold Belgium, Breaburn New Zealand, Gala Italy, Gala loose South Africa, Golden Delicious Italy, Pink Lady New Zealand, Lemonade New Zealand, Rocha pears Portugal, 'Garden Gang' Gala Spain, Conference pears Belgium.
Below: left; Asda polybag Cox and right; Asda polybag Gala
Summary
Not much change over the last two weeks. More British Gala on display, and expectation that British Braeburn will be on Supermarket shelves this weekend. Well - 'some Supermarket shelves' - It was interesting to see Kissabel in Morrisons, this relatively new variety is one of the 'new kids' on the block and with it's pink flesh seen as something different.
Below: left; Kissabel in Morrisons and right; Images of Kissabel
Finally - By coincidence I watched We are England - My Cucumber Farm on BBC TV at 7.30pm and it demonstrates how at risk we are of losing so much 'home grown produce'
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man