Between them Lidl and Aldi bought over 40 per cent of the apples sold by Brititish Apples & Pears growers in September and October
In the first two months of the 2025/26 British apple and pear season, Aldi and Lidl emerged as the biggest supporters of domestic fruit, buying a higher volume from growers than other retailers.
Trade body British Apples & Pears (BAPL) said September and October saw strong volumes of new-season British apples supplied by their members.
And Lidl led the way, accounting for 22.7 per cent (4,313 tonnes) of the crop supplied by BAPL growers. Aldi followed closely behind with 20 per cent (3,809 tonnes).
Both Lidl and Aldi are significantly overtrading on British apples compared to their grocery market shares of 8.2 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively.
“It’s fantastic to see Lidl and Aldi once again leading the charge at the start of the British apple season,” said BAPL executive chair Ali Capper. “They’re clearly listening to their customers, who love to buy homegrown fruit. We hope the other supermarkets will step up in the coming months.”
The industry needs Tesco’s support through the whole season and particularly in the early months at the start of season, BAPL stressed.
This year, despite holding the largest grocery market share at 28.2 per cent, Tesco again lags far behind, taking only 15.1 per cent (2,863 tonnes) of British apples during September and October 2025.
This compares poorly to 2018 when in the same two months Tesco sold 6,307 tonnes of British apple, more than double this year’s sales.
“Tesco’s early-season performance is well below expectations and far behind the discounters,” said Capper. “This suggests British apples are losing out in Tesco to cheaper imports at just the time when homegrown fruit is in great supply and perfect quality.”
Sainsbury’s and Asda fared better that Tesco, getting close to their grocery market share. Sainsbury’s sold 13.5 per cent (2,573 tonnes) of all BAPL growers’ apples, and Asda had 10 per cent (1,895 tonnes), compared to their respective grocery market shares of 15.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent. However, Asda continues to show improvement from its low volumes in 2023.
Morrisons took 6.1 per cent (1,157 tonnes), Co-op 3.7 per cent (697 tonnes), M&S 3.5 per cent (666 tonnes), and Waitrose 3.3 per cent (632 tonnes) – all roughly in line with expectations.
“We know shoppers get frustrated when they can’t find British apples on supermarket shelves in the early weeks of the season; it is the biggest complaint from shoppers on our social channels,” added Capper.
“Our growers work incredibly hard to deliver delicious, high-quality fruit from September onwards, and we’d like to see every retailer supporting the seasonality message with lots of union flags, British displays, and shelves full of British apples.”
British apple sales by BAPL growers for September and October 2025:
| Retailer | Tonnes sold | % of total volume | Grocery market share (12 w/e 2/11/25) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lidl |
4,313 |
22.7% |
8.2% |
|
Aldi |
3,809 |
20.0% |
10.6% |
|
Tesco |
2,863 |
15.1% |
28.2% |
|
Sainsbury’s |
2,573 |
13.5% |
15.7% |
|
Asda |
1,895 |
10.0% |
11.6% |
|
Morrisons |
1,157 |
6.1% |
8.3% |
|
Co-op |
697 |
3.7% |
5.4% |
|
M&S |
666 |
3.5% |
3.9% |
|
Waitrose |
632 |
3.3% |
4.4% |
|
Ocado |
275 |
1.4% |
2.1% |
|
Iceland |
67 |
0.4% |
2.3% |
|
Others |
66 |
0.3% |
0.0% |
Further details of BAPL members’ monthly sales can be found here.
