Sainsbury's claims crown for British apples and pears

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Sainsbury’s has claimed the accolade of selling the most UK-grown apples and pears over the past year.

Beating its nearest rival by more than 6,000 tonnes, Sainsbury’s sold 40,216 tonnes of UK apples and pears during the 2011-12 season, which ran from August 2011 to June 2012. According to trade body English Apples & Pears, this equates to a market share of 30.6%.

Tesco was next, selling 34,106 tonnes to claim a market share of 26%. Morrisons and Asda were ranked third and fourth respectively.

Overall, retailers sold 94,246 tonnes of UK apples in 2011/12 – 16.9% more than during the 2010-11 season. pear volumes held steady at just under 21,803 tonnes.

Adrian Barlow of English Apples & Pears said the increased volumes reflected an “outstanding” performance by the industry.

“The increase has been driven by massive investment in growing new varieties but also in new infrastructure, such as cold storage facilities, to handle the increased volumes,” he said.

Barlow said Sainsbury’s had worked closely with growers to maximise availability and give consumers a wide choice of varieties.

“Their in-store performance has been matched by their investment in research, and the industry greatly appreciates their superb sales and exemplary support,” he added.

Sainsbury’s apples and pear technologist Theresa Huxley commented: “As customers are seeking out British-grown fruit, it’s really giving our growers the confidence to invest in exciting new varieties, which in turn refreshes the apple and pear choice on offer and attracts new customers.”

Outlook for next season
While the 2011-12 British apples and pears season has been a success, poor weather this spring and summer has meant the outlook for 2012-13 is less positive.

Barlow stressed it was too early to estimate how much UK apple and pear volumes would be reduced as a result of the cold and wet weather, as individual orchards and varieties had been hit to varying degrees.

But early indications suggested Cox had been hit much harder than Gala, he said, while early-season varieties such as Discovery had also been hit very hard, with about 50% of the crop having to be sold for juicing rather than as eating apples.

“What’s important to stress, however, is that although this coming season will be a setback it will be a slip only and not permanent,” Barlow said.

Sales of UK apples and pears in 2011/12