Dessert apple crowned UK's number one fruit and vegetable

By Martyn Fisher2015-07-30T16:36:35+01:00

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Dessert apples have been crowned the UK's most popular fruit and vegetable.

The product topped the FPJ Big 50 Products 2015, a special edition of the Fresh Produce Journal produced in conjunction with Kantar Worldpanel, beating grapes, tomatoes, bananas and old potatoes to take the title.

Strawberries, easy peelers, mushrooms, new potatoes and peppers complete the top 10.

Dessert apples' UK sales value of £846.1 million in the year ending 24 May 2015 - the criteria used to determine the rankings - was enough to see it top the chart.

Solid support from the supermarkets and a big marketing push from industry body English Apples and Pears helped dessert apples post value growth of 1.8 per cent, and volume growth of six per cent.

A number of fresh produce products - as sold in their wholehead or mono-pack form - suffered severe value crashes over the period the data covers. Among these items were potatoes, brassicas and salad lines.

Berries and exotic fruits such as mangoes performed very strongly, though - significantly growing value and volume sales in 2014-15.

FPJ Big 50 Products Top 10

1. Dessert Apples - £846.1m (+1.8 per cent)

2. Grapes - £763.7m (+7.2 per cent)

3. Tomatoes - £701.8m (-5.5 per cent)

4. Bananas - £576.3m (-3.1 per cent)

5. Old Potatoes - £553.9m (-14.8 per cent)

6. Strawberries - £505.1m (+5 per cent)

7. Easy Peelers - £423.8m (-0.8 per cent)

8. Mushrooms - £390.7m (+2.7 per cent)

9. New Potatoes - £329.7m (-13.4 per cent)

10. Peppers - £294m (-12 per cent)