English Apples & Pears has renewed calls to supermarkets to ensure English top fruit growers are making the returns they need to reinvest in their crops. The organisation made the comments as Tesco celebrated becoming the UK's number one English apple retailer for the first time ever.

Adrian Barlow, ceo of EAP said: 'We need price premiums in terms of returns to growers. Growers are not getting the returns they need in this country. If this continues it is inevitable that ever increasing numbers will disappear from the business.' He added that a minimum grower return of 34p for every pound of Cox sold was needed to ensure the variety would thrive in the future.

'Prices this season for Cox have not been high enough to cover all production costs that need to be satisfied on an annual basis for orchard renewal. People forget these costs, which is enormously dangerous.' Individual suppliers should lobby their customers to give them this price, he said.

However, he stopped short of blaming the ongoing problem directly on retailers.

'They are in a competitive situation too and they've got responsibilities towards their customers,' he said. 'All we can ask is that they appreciate production costs in this country and to be mindful of the need to be profitable - and are doing their utmost [to address the situation].' Tesco this week began a BOGOF promotion on pre-packed Cox, and is selling the variety loose at 29p for a lb. The supermarket says that both measures will help it shift this year's 25 per cent higher than average Cox crop, which also has an 80 per cent grade out.

According to Taylor Nelson Sofres data, Tesco sold 21.5 per cent of the English Cox crop in the 20 weeks ending December 9, 2001, a total of 25 million apples.

Barlow said that Tesco's new commitment was a welcome turnabout in the retailer's sourcing policy. 'If you go back to the mid-1990s they were not well disposed towards English apples. This has certainly changed dramatically. There has been continual improvement over the last four years.

'They also did an absolutely excellent job on Discovery, which was tremendously beneficial to the industry. There is no doubt that their efforts at the beginning of the season made a huge impact on sales overall.' EAP would continue its campaign to stimulate retail interest in English top fruit across the board, said Barlow.

'There is good rationale [for selling English apples]m,' he said. 'It's not the case of retailers doing us a favour, we are trying to get this message across - that there really is a logical case for selling English.'

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