Aldi and Lidl have started the British 2024 apple season strongly, beating their larger rivals to stock almost half of this year’s harvest.
One in four British apples, or 1,862 tonnes, sold in September were sold by Aldi (27.5%). Meanwhile, Lidl stocked 20.7% of the crop, equivalent to 1,401 tonnes.
Both are significantly outperforming their grocery market shares of 9.8% at Aldi and 8.1% in Lidl.
“Aldi really was the standout performer,” said Ali Capper, executive chair of British Apples & Pears. “The supermarket more than quadrupled their volume compared to September 2023 – from 405 tonnes in September last year to 1,862 tonnes in September 2024.”
Meanwhile, Tesco has had a slower start to the season coming in fourth in the September 2024 league table, stocking 13.9% of British apples which is just under half of its grocery market share of 28%.
Sainsbury’s sold 14% of the new season crop and Asda 7.9%, which BAP recognised as a “huge improvement” compared with its September 2023 volume.
“It’s early days but we know from our social media channels that shoppers get very frustrated when they are looking for new season British apples in the supermarkets and can’t find them,” said Capper. “That’s why we really need all the supermarkets to be quick off the mark at the start of the new season.”
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