How is your export market split?

The UK is not a big market for us, taking about 2.5 per cent of our volume. We used to supply a lot more in the past. Now we supply to IVG White, which was bought by Keelings, for The Co-op and Budgens. Europe is very much a trader’s market; unlike the UK, most customers don’t really want a relationship with growers. The US has become our biggest export market as it likes the larger fruit we have. The smaller chains there are able to compete with and beat the likes of Wal-Mart on quality, and that’s where we come in.

What is the main source of ‘quality’?

Quality comes from the heart and soul of the producer, from their craftsmanship, and the retailer and its customers need to feel that. This is not a cost-plus business though; it’s all about supply and demand, and the quality the market will bear. The focus around the world is now on shifting product, which takes the soul out of it.

Some of the best retailers are the high-street fruiterers, buying out of the markets, largely because they are prepared to pay a little bit extra for high-quality fruit. The best supermarkets recognise the passion of producers and encourage that. They should be asking people to shoot for the stars, not driving them down to the lowest price in tenders and taking the value out of the business.

Do growers work on a level playing field?

One of the great tragedies for this industry is that everyone now works towards minimum standards. The guy who does the premium job and produces the best product is at a disadvantage against the guy who concentrates on least-cost production to just meet the minimum requirements. In New Zealand, there are some very good growers and some poor growers of Braeburn, for instance, and they are all getting the same price. I cannot understand the rationale of any supermarket that thinks it is okay because they are getting the fruit cheap.

I suppose at least the UK supermarkets deliver an acceptable standard, but produce is a discretionary purchase, and in Europe generally it is a lottery where produce is treated like cans of beans. I think there will be a renaissance in the UK, there has to be.

What do you think the consumer wants from the apple industry?

I think the consumer is looking for the wow factor, not a cheap and nasty experience. They want something that is healthy, obviously, but they also want to enjoy the experience of eating fruit. When you provide fruit that fits that criteria, it has been shown that you can double and triple sales very quickly. It’s time to stop cutting corners and cheating the consumer. We want to be putting a ray of sunshine into their lives when they eat apples, and making them eat more.

Some 80 per cent of our business is domestic now; we sell one million cartons into Foodstuffs, our biggest retailer, and we sell home-grown fruit at a premium. We are selling SmartFresh Royal Gala well after the end of the regular season, and we can do that as the customer wants us to give the consumer something to remember about the performance of the fruit in their bowls. People like the export market because it seems more glamorous, but it’s not always the way.

Does the global supermarket network help fruit growers?

The corporate mentality does not fit with things that come from a biological system. In that respect, I believe in my heart of hearts that Tesco is the Anti-Christ, because they have no soul - and you can quote me on that. The most important thing for a supplier is to be relevant, and that’s why we supply smaller groups around the world. We don’t want to be a commoditised supplier of apples, we want to make a difference to our customers’ business. I hope that the people who prosper in the future are those that nurture the passion.

Instead, suppliers to the big chains are building huge facilities to distribute commoditised fruit to minimum standards. Being big does not mean you have to take that approach, but everyone has fallen in line, and that can only minimise the passion back down the supply chain.

Supermarkets should be trying to take all the business they can, of course, but the corporate guys often lack the courage to be different. It’s difficult; if they get it wrong they are out of a job, but it is stifling this industry. Any momentum that does build up is lost in constant reshuffling and restructure. A lot of the family chains in the US are an example of how it can work; they are more committed to the values of the business than to the bottom line, and can therefore be more courageous in their decision making.

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