UK GB Ross Goatham Zari apple orchard

Article updated 6 August to include details of new supply arrangements.

While consumers might once have had to wait until September for the start of the English apple season, a relatively new variety called Zari is one of a handful of new apple types being used to bring forward the beginning of the country's annual harvest.

Grown in Kent by AC Goatham & Son, Zari will be supplied direct to Sainsbury's under an exclusiveagreement for the first time this season. The fruit was previouslysupplied through Orchard World.

Zari was already well established on the European mainland when the first English plantings took place a few years ago.

Since making its official market debut in 2010, production of the variety has grown considerably in line with demand.

The video below, produced by freelancer Carl Pendle, features Ross Goatham talking about the company's Zari production.