Apple grower AC Goatham & Sons is gearing up for its first marketing push for the Zari apple in a bid to establish a UK-grown contender to Pink Lady in five years.

Goatham holds the sole UK growing and marketing rights for Zari - a cross between the Elstar and Delbard Estivale varieties - an early variety which is sweet, crisp and stores well.

Zari has been sold in Morrisons and Sainsbury’s over the past few years, in their ‘red apple’ bags - often used as a test-bed for new varieties - where it was named in the small print. However, Goatham is now looking to grow the variety into a brand in its own right, following in the footsteps of Rubens and Pink Lady.

Zari would challenge Pink Lady (which is not currently grown in the UK) “in terms of an impactful presence in the market, a quality, reliable product for consumers, a great reputation and an apple that is always worth eating,” said partner Clive Goatham.

The first burst of marketing activity will see 50 Mumsnet mums sent enough apples for each family member to eat one Zari apple a day for a week, during the summer holidays. Their feedback will be used for the brand’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Later this year, Sainsbury’s will introduce own-label bags of red apples, which will contain Zari apples and carry the Zari logo. Packs will potentially host an on-pack giveaway and a QR code to link to images of Zari orchards. Goatham aims to set up a European Zari growers group to share information.

Goatham and its six supplying growers currently have a total of 78,000 Zari apple trees in the ground and a further 60,000 are on order, to support the predicted growth in demand. This year, the yield is forecast to be 2,000 tonnes, more than double last year’s volume.

Source

Richard Ford

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