Tesco ahead in the race to sell most British apples

Asda, Tesco and Lidl are among the top retail supporters of the British apple and pear season, according to figures for first nine months of the current harvest year.

Asda has more than doubled its volumes of British apples compared to last season, up from 5,458 to 11,200 tonnes between September and May.

Other standout year-on-year performances have been achieved by Lidl (up 2,668 tonnes), Tesco (up 2,633 tonnes) and Sainsbury’s (up 1,436 tonnes). At the top of the league table, Tesco has pulled ahead by buying 28,421 tonnes so far.

“Six months into the season Aldi were at the top, but Tesco have had a cracking third quarter and have just pulled ahead,” said Ali Capper, BAPL executive chair. “The race for the number one spot is still neck and neck.

The figures, released by trade body British Apples and Pears (BAPL), also show that M&S is now buying 5.2 per cent of all British apples compared to their market share of 3.7 per cent, while Waitrose buys 4.8 per cent of the crop compared to its 4.6 per cent market share.

Morrisons is still down on last year, but only by 391 tonnes, while Co-op is down 566 tonnes as it continues to deal with the impact of a cyberattack.

In British pears, Sainsbury’s continues to be the standout performer, having bought 36.7 per cent of all British pears in the last nine months, while Lidl and Aldi also had relatively strong performances compared to their grocery market share.

BAPL announces the winner of its Retailer of the Year competition in September every year, according to which company has sold the most British apples and pears.