Great fruit faces crunch time says the Economist

A short item in the Economist based on Kantar Worldpanel data shows what is happening to apple sales in the UK - they are going down.

The varieties in growth are:
1. Jazz
2. Pink Lady
3. Braeburn
4. Gala

And in decline are:
1. Granny Smith
2. Cox
3. Golden Delicious.

Remember, these are figures only from shops that hand out till receipts, which means that Kantar does not measure the totality of the independent sector. But it is still a useful guide as to what to stock.

More importantly the Economist interviews suppliers who explain the rise in Gala and Braeburn because consumers like the flavour, supermarkets like them because they are grown all around the world so they are always available and growers like them because they have longer seasons than traditional English varieties.

But Pink Lady, now the fourth most popular variety in Britain, is another fruit covered by strict quality controls and no British farmer is licensed to grow it. Apples are becoming more like processed foods but not in all ways, the Economist notes.

More on www.betterretailing.com.

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