On Wednesday 17th September British Apples and Pears celebrated the start of the new apple and pear season.
WITH SO MUCH CONTENT AND PICTURES AVAILABLE, I WILL MAJOR ON ALI CAPPER'S SPEECH AND INCLUDE MANY PICTURES IN NEXT WEEK'S JOURNAL
The event was hosted by Robert Hinge and his son John, with an address by Ali Capper Chair of BAPL and contributions from Steve Maxwell CEO of Worldwide Fruit Ltd.
Below: The Oak Grove Wedding Venue is strategically located next to many of Robert & John Hinge's orchard and very near to the River Medway estuary was a perfect location for the BAPL 2025 new season launch.
Click on: The Oak Grove
Introduction and overview of the 2025 seasonal Launch of British Apples & Pears by Ali Capper
"It is a pleasure to be able to welcome so many of you to this beautiful part of Kent. Huge thanks to Robert and John Hinge, the Fruition PO and the Worldwide Fruit team for hosting us today and thank you all for coming.
"Today I am going to talk about Information, Innovation, Investment and awards. I want to inspire action and am very happy to take questions at the end".
On Information:
British Apples & Pears works hard to collect accurate industry data so the whole supply chain understands the crop available, seasonal specifications, and sales performance. The BAPL Orchard and Storage Census Report is the largest ever survey we have conducted into our sector. The findings show we are at a pivotal moment.
Firstly, the good news: more than 70 different apple varieties are being grown in British orchards with 36 different varieties planted in the last five years alone. We estimate that there are over 10 million apple trees producing over 200,000 tonnes of fruit each year from about 5,500 hectares of land. The land area has been stable for over 20 years and yet we have doubled production. A real
achievement by the industry.
In the last five years, growers planted an average of 213 hectares of new apple orchards per year. But in the next three years, they plan to plant just 145 hectares annually - that's a 32% drop. And we need 369 hectares planted every year just to maintain current levels. At this rate, we could lose half of our orchards by 2037. Gala and Braeburn are in decline. British Pink Lady is expanding slowly, and we hope to have more positive news on BAPL planting this Autumn.
Storage capacity is currently sufficient at 197,000 tonnes across 1,200 stores, but more than 60% of facilities are over 15 years old. Ageing stores increase costs and reduce efficiency, yet growers lack confidence to invest. As one grower put it: "We're investing to survive, not to grow."
To change this, we need the right business environment: long-term retail contracts, profitable returns and increased government tax allowances that reflect the scale of the investment required.
The BAPL Orchard and Storage Census 2025 is the clearest indicator yet that if we don't act, we risk the future of our wonderful sector.
On Innovation:
Grower funding underpins all our R&D. It is the only guaranteed source of funding for pest and disease research to protect apple and pear crops. We also invest in climate change mitigation, biodiversity, and net zero projects.
Today's work includes:
* codling moth, woolly apple aphid, hard-bodied pests, woodlice, brown marmorated stink bug, scab and canker research
* cold storage energy utilisation
* biochar addition to orchards and at tree planting
* daylight-activated foliar feeds that convert atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NOx) into plant available nitrate directly onto the leaf surface
* perennial wildflowers with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), to withstand stress from drought or waterlogging and boost resilience against diseases such as canker.
The Defra/Innovate UK and grower-funded Biochar and Lifecycle Carbon Analysis report will be published shortly showing packaging accounts for over 60% of emissions, while fertilisers and fuel are minimal contributors. This proves that British apples are already a low-emission crop, with the potential to be carbon-neutral or even carbon-sequestering. To support sustainability, we are developing a single trusted dataset for Scope 3 emissions, water and nature reporting. This will cut costs, reduce duplication, and provide a reliable source of information for retailers. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with retailer sustainability teams to ensure that our one source of data will suit each retailers' needs.
On Investment:
Last year we stated an ambition to reach 60% market share for British apples by 2035, this is going to require significant investment of £80,000-£100,000/ha. Innovation requires investment, and growers are already funding research while also investing in infrastructure, renewables and on-farm improvements. The end of the Fruit & Veg PO scheme, without a replacement, risks undermining this progress.
Today, we are pleased to announce two new Oxbury Bank financial products, offered exclusively to BAPL growers, to help fund orchard, storage, grading and packing investment. These will, however, depend on long-term contracts between growers, packers and
retailers.
On Inspiring Action:
One urgent issue is the Employer Pays Principle. The Defra Taskforce concluded it is economically unsustainable. If enforced, it would increase apple pack prices by 4-5p, make British produce less competitive, and risks destabilising the Seasonal Worker Scheme.
Seasonal labour accounts for half of orchard turnover - we cannot afford disruption. We are calling for:
1. Retailers to align ethical/commercial teams to abandon plans to fund visas/travel.
2. SEDEX to remove recruitment cost and living wage CARs from UK audits.
3. An alternative welfare assurance scheme, e.g. GLOBAL GAP GRASP, for UK growers.
To our knowledge no other European or Southern Hemisphere nation is considering implementing the EPP requirements in the same way as the UK. These costs will make UK fresh produce uncompetitive and retailer availability less resilient.
On other matters we want Retailers to:
* Work with us to grow your market share of British apple
* Put apples at the heart of your health messaging
* Provide profitable returns that will inspire investment in orchards, varieties, storage
infrastructure, grading and packing lines and packaging formats
* Make long term contractual commitments
* Work with us to streamline audits and carbon reporting
And to our government colleagues, we want you to:
* Increase the Annual Investment Allowance from £1 million to £10 million
* Reverse the IHT APR/BPR change in relief which is damaging business investment
* Include apple growers, stores and packhouses in the energy discounts planned for the aerospace, automotive and chemical manufacturing sectors through the British Industrial Competitive Scheme starting in 2027
* Ensure that increasing numbers of seasonal workers are available to hand pick the higher volumes of apples and pears in British orchards and ensure that the scheme has certainty by making it permanent
* Ensure the continuity of funding beyond the PO schemes providing significant capital grants open to all and provide clear policy direction on how the end of the scheme will be managed
Awards:
Finally, let's celebrate - the 2024 crop was the largest in recent history. Congratulations to all the growers and our supply chain for an exceptional performance.
Today we have printed for you all a copy of the last 15 years' worth of sales data. We have also compared the last 4 crop years (2021-2024) with the 4 years prior (2017-2020), which shows:
* Lidl an estimated 45% increase in British apples and pears sold
* Aldi a 40% increase
* M&S a 39% increase
* Asda a 36% increase
We want to see every retailer meeting or smashing their grocery market share for British apples. We plan to split Ocado out from the "other" category in future.
On the back of this sheet you will see QR codes that take you to health stats for apple and pear, inflation data, World Apple & Pear data, the work we are doing with Veg Power on #AttackTheSnack this Autumn and all our other BAPL news.
And so, onto the 2024 awards for sales between September 2024 and August 2025. To pears first.
Aldi delivered an exceptional improvement in British pear sales this year, significantly increasing their volumes from last season to apply the pressure on second placed Lidl, who continue to overtrade versus their market share, and demonstrating a growing commitment to British pears.
But However, they have been overtaken by Sainsbury's performance. Sainsbury's is the 2025 BAPL British Pear Retailer of the Year and Sainsbury's also takes the BAPL award for Most Improved British Pear Retailer, increasing sales by 905 tonnes.
And now to apple. Several supermarkets also over-indexed for British apples - selling more than you would expect given their grocery market share. Outstanding performers this year included Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's, M&S and Waitrose. Morrisons, Asda, Co-op and Tesco all under-perform against grocery market share.
This year we are recognising the retailer that achieved the best year-on-year sales performance. That award goes to Asda, which more than doubled its volume of British apple sales from 2023 to 2024 crop years. Asda has excelled this year, a real testament to their efforts.
And now for the overall winner for the most British apple sold this year, Tesco sold 34,043 tonnes of British dessert apples, ahead of Aldi, which sold 30,130 tonnes.
Tesco has continued to demonstrate their strong commitment to British apples, and we're thrilled to see them take the top spot again. Congratulations Tesco!
Moving onto the 2025 crop... it is looking fabulous - fantastic colour, size and skin finish! Many of you will know that we have recently announced a new award for the best British Apple launch 2025, the entry for which is free, but you will need to enter! What are we looking for:
* Creativity & Innovation (20%)
* Execution Quality (20%)
* Impact (40%)
* Support for British Growers (20%)
We are very much looking forward to making this award next April 2026, for campaigns live between September and December 2025. Good luck and we are looking forward to lots of entries.
This speech is available on BAPL website.
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man