Apples! Apples! Apples!

The supermarkets tell us that consumers are important and have a large say in what is on the shelf of the store. If this is really so, why is it that we, as apple growers, hear so many complaints about lack of choice, fruit from abroad and the state of the product?

Many consumers, not wishing to make a fuss, do not complain and end up buying second best. In short, why do supermarkets stock so few English apples?

We have been given many answers over the years:

• "Your apples are the wrong shape" - they were lovely Worcester Pearmains.
• "Your apples are not round enough" - Worcesters again.
• "We do not like the yellow background" - Cox’s Orange Pippin beautifully ripe.
• "The apples look as if they have spray deposit" - Natural bloom on Spartan.
• "Your apples look as if they have been waxed" - said of the same Spartan when the bloom had been polished off.
• "The apples are not of uniform size" or - "Our customers only like big apples".

What they really mean is that they can buy foreign apples cheaper in enormous quantities which are more uniform in size and shape, bred with tough skins so they do not bruise in travel and with no flavour so they keep longer.

At Chariton Orchards we grow 25 varieties of apples. Six are commercial, the rest are of interesting shapes, with wonderful flavour, juicy, aromatic and russety. They are part of British history, some are of Roman origin and some planted by Henry VIII’ s Royal Fruiterer.

We rarely eat the commercial varieties ourselves except the Cox’s Orange Pippin, but properly ripened. With the others we savour the various flavours and textures fashioned by the vagaries of our weather.

So, ask for the more traditional varieties when you go shopping. You may remember some of them from your scrumping days, such as Blenheim Orange or Kidds Orange. The more customers ask for their preferred kinds, the more Supermarkets will respond and stock them - or will they? Every Supermarket has a complaints book, use it, and, hopefully, your choice of fruit will be wider and fruit growers will not be a dying breed.

June Small, an Individual Member and her husband run, as you will have gathered, a commercial apple growing business, and they also train others to do the same.

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