UK | The fantastic summer for British fruit quality and productivity is set to continue into the autumn.
That’s the prediction from UK apple growers following near-perfect growing conditions that saw long hours of sunshine during the summer and plenty of rainfall in recent weeks.
According to Tesco, the excellent fruit-growing conditions have led to high-quality, bumper crops of British-grown strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, as well as cherries, resulting in high demand among shoppers.
The high quality of this summer has led directly to supermarkets experiencing strong volume growth for many of the UK’s favourite summer fruits, with demand for berries up 10 per cent on last summer and cherries up by 35 per cent.
Apples are set to follow, with many apple growers forecasting a very strong yield of high-quality fruit landing on supermarket shelves over the autumn months. After speaking with its suppliers and growers, Tesco predicts British apple demand to be up 10 per cent on last season.
“We’ve had one of the best summers for British-grown fruit in recent years, with lots of sunshine helping to raise sugar levels and create classic berries and cherries. That’s clearly gone down well with shoppers, resulting in high demand throughout the summer months,” said Tesco apple buyer Paul Curtis.
“But there’s more good news on the way for the start of the apple season, with our growers reporting great quality fruit coming through.”
One of the UK’s largest apple growers, Adrian Scripps, based near Tonbridge in Kent, said that the excellent growing conditions have produced one of the best-quality crops in recent years.
The company stated that the warmer weather in the six to eight weeks following the apple crop's bloom was particularly beneficial in producing classic fruit with excellent skin colour and a fantastic flavour.
“The fruit coming through is very attractive with an excellent skin finish, whereas last season we saw a level of russeting to the skin. The overall colour is very good, particularly with the varieties now being harvested, and this is improving markedly with the later-season apples, such as Kanzi and Pink Lady. The cooler nights that we usually see in September will help the fruit colour up,” said Scripps.
“Perhaps most important of all, though, is that the flavour is fantastic, some of the best we’ve seen in recent years. This is undoubtedly due to the gloriously sunny, warm weather seen through late July and August.”
The demand for more fruit followed Tesco’s campaign to help the nation achieve its five-a-day target.
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