Following regional hail in the Western Cape area of South Africa, Waitrose has announced that it will be supporting those growers affected by selling Waitrose Foundation weather-blemished apple bags.
Already this year, the retailer has offered customers weather-blemished apples from UK growers – some affected by hail, others with slight discolouring and skin marking. Waitrose’s own farm, Leckford in Hampshire, had its Gala orchards affected early on in the season, and the retailer says that they were one of the key beneficiaries of its policy.
The reintroduction of the weather-blemished Waitrose Foundation South African apples bag, made up from a selection of varieties comes following their initial introduction last year when unexpectedly poor weather superficially damaged 70 per cent of farmers’ crops.
Greg Sehringer, Waitrose apple buyer, said: “We’ve been stocking weather-affected apples for eight years now and are proud to support not only our own farmers here in the UK, but also growers abroad who are sometimes hit by unpredictable weather.
'It’s a testament to our customers that they’re savvy enough to trust that the fruit will be just as delicious, even if the apples doesn’t look as perfect as usual.”
The Waitrose Foundation South African weather-blemished apples will be available in 263 branches nationwide from today (20 May), priced at £2.
Waitrose has been selling weather-blemished apples since October 2011, but the retailer claims support for growers suffering from adverse growing conditions can be tracked back to the first launch in September 2007.
Waitrose Foundation was founded in 2005 to help improve the lives of the farm workers and smallholders who grow Waitrose produce in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.
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