British Apples and Pears Update 2025
Food price inflation - a warning about what to expect in 2025
Data from Andersons Farm Consulting, commissioned by British Apples & Pears, has revealed the cost of producing a kilo of apples has risen by 5.3% this year
The cost of producing a kilogramme of apples is expected to rise by 7p this year due to recent budget announcements, new analysis has revealed.
The data from Andersons Farm Consulting, commissioned by British Apples & Pears, has revealed the cost of producing a kilo of apples will rise by 5.3% from £1.33 to £1.40.
The grower group said this was directly related to recent government policy announcements around labour costs and predicted that apple and pear growers were facing a 10% increase in labour costs - which represent 50% of the total costs of producing the crop.
In the autumn budget, the government announced the National Insurance rate for employers would increase from 13.8% to 15%, while the threshold on employee earnings at which NI applies would reduce from £9,100 to £5,000.
BAP warned that food price rises in 2025 were "now an inevitable consequence of recent government policy".
"Growers' margins have been stripped to the bone, so these increases in the cost of producing British apples and pears will have to be passed on to retailers, who have already said they will have to pass on wage rises to consumers," said Ali Capper, executive chair of BAP.
"Shoppers will end up paying more for their fresh apples and pears," added Capper. "Food price inflation is a direct consequence of government policy."
This echoes similar warnings from the NFU last week. Martin Emmett, NFU horticulture and potatoes board chair, said government policy added unexpected and "very significant" extra costs on to the already struggling horticulture sector.
Emmett said some of the NFU's members were already reducing working hours to offset the additional costs, and in the most extreme cases redundancies were now being considered.
"These changes will impact growers, retailers, shoppers and could even tip the country into recession as consumer demand declines in the face of price rises," said Capper. "On top of that, growers are now facing the costs associated with the newly proposed changes to Inheritance Tax.
"The costs associated with tax planning will also have to be priced in for the future."
Aldi again tops new season British apple sales
September 2024 marked the official start of the new British apple season and the latest data from British Apples & Pears Limited (BAPL) reveals which retailers were best at backing British in the first four months of the apple year.
Click on: British Apples and Pears new season sales by Retailer
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man