The recent hot weather is having a positive effect on the English apple crop, leading UK supermarket Sainsbury’s has revealed, with the first apples of the season coming in 5% bigger than usual.
- First English apple of the season is 5% bigger due to the hot weather
- New season variety, ‘Zari’ lands in store this week
- Sainsbury’s is UK’s biggest English apple and pear retailer, selling more than a quarter of the UK’s crop
The retailer is the UK’s biggest English apple and pear retailer, ‘pipping’ the competition to the post with a 26.8% share of the market. It launches the first English eating apples of the season in stores on Wednesday.
The Zari is a delicious, early season English eating apple, grown exclusively for Sainsbury’s. The British appetite for the fruit sees no sign of slowing, with an estimated 60 tonnes of the fruit to be delivered to stores this week, increasing to in excess of 100 tonnes per week as the season progresses.
Dr Theresa Huxley, Sainsbury’s Technical Manager for Apples & Pears, said: “We know that buying British is really important to our customers and, as English apples are renowned for their great taste and flavour, the start of the new season is always exciting. I visited the orchards last week to taste the fruit and was amazed by how much bigger the apples are this year and they’re as juicy and crisp as usual. I am confident our customers will enjoy their extra bites this season.”
Bags of by Sainsbury’s British Zari Apples x5 (minimum), priced at £1.50, are available in store from September to December. The apples are grown exclusively at Shrubbery Farm, an award-winning orchard in Kent owned by AC Goatham & Son. A relatively new variety, having launched in Sainsbury’s in 2010.