UK topfruit industry ‘faces decline’ without better support

The UK apple and pear industry is at a crossroads that could lead to the gradual decline of topfruit production in the country.

That’s according to two sobering new reports carried out by British Apples & Pears (BAPL), which examined current and future production and infrastructure.

The industry body notes that British apple and pear orchard hectarage has been stable for almost 10 years – at 5,577ha in 2016 compared to 5,532ha in 2025 – however 2023 and 2024 were two of the three lowest hectarage years.

Production set to fall

In the last five years, an average of 213ha of apple orchards were planted each year. But in the next three years, only 145ha are planned to be planted with new trees, representing a 32 per cent drop versus the five-year average.

This is not because growers already have lots of young, productive trees, BAPL stressed. In fact, only 12 per cent of all British apple orchards and 55 per cent of all British pear orchards are more than 21 years old.

To simply maintain the current hectarage of apple orchards, BAPL said UK growers would need to plant 369ha of new orchards each year. Instead, they are planning less than half that (145ha). At that rate, the UK would have half the orchards it does today by 2037.

Call for long-term contracts

At a time when climate change affects import availability and price, and when healthy eating and UK food security should be top of the agenda, BAPL said growers are holding back on orchard expansion. Without a strong business case to invest in new trees, the sector will decline, it added, reducing the availability of fresh British apples and pears.

“Supermarkets must commit to the British topfruit industry now, before it’s too late,” said Ali Capper, executive chair of BAPL. “They can’t rely on imports when climate change and geopolitical events will undoubtedly lead to scarcity. With long-term retailer commitments, growers can invest and ensure the future of British orchards and fruit supply. But it needs to happen now, before we start to lose our wonderful British apples and pears.”

Key findings of the BAPL tree census survey, as it relates to apples, included:

• BAPL survey responders have 4,120ha of apple orchards, with more than nine million trees or 2,231 trees per hectare. Survey responders represented 92 per cent of the picked crop of British apples and pears, therefore BAPL estimates that commercial orchards hold over 10 million trees.
• In total, more than 70 apple varieties are being grown in British commercial orchards, with 36 different varieties planted in the last five years alone.
• Gala is grown in 30 per cent of all apple orchards and Braeburn in 11 per cent. These are the most dominant varieties.
• However, Braeburn and Gala are declining. Braeburn was 20 per cent of all apple orchards 11-15 years ago, whereas it is 11 per cent today. Gala was 54 per cent of all apple orchards 11-15 years ago, while today it is 38 per cent. This is a symptom of the declining profitability of these varieties, BAPL observed.
• Recent planting (within the last five years) has seen big investment in Jazz, (139ha), Pink Lady (100ha), Magic Star (80ha) and Cameo (43ha). Even 38ha of Cox, one of the oldest apple varieties, was planted in the last five years.

Key findings of the BAPL tree census survey, as it relates to pears, included:

• BAPL survey responders have 702ha of pear orchards, with just over one million trees or 1,438 trees per hectare.
• The Conference variety accounts for 93 per cent of all pear orchard hectares, but there are actually 10 different varieties of pear being grown commercially in the UK.
• More than half (55 per cent) of all Conference pear orchards are over 21 years old.
• In the last five years an average of just 20ha of pear orchards were planted per year.
• No growers surveyed are planning on planting any new pear trees in the UK in 2026 or 2027. Pears are simply not profitable for UK growers due to low returns, BAPL warned.

The BAPL surveys also revealed that 840ha of apple and pear orchards currently lie fallow, which is to say they are either not currently planted or being replanted. While the industry would expect around 5-10 per cent of orchards to be ‘resting’ between old and new plantings at any one time, 840 hectares is 15 per cent of the total UK commercial orchard hectarage. 

The tree census clearly indicates that the sector has the potential to expand production, BAPL stressed. But to do that, it said British apple and pear growers need the storage capacity to keep the fruit fresh until it’s needed.

Examining storage capacity

BAPL also undertook a major study into the sector’s storage capacity to inform future growth plans. Key findings included:

• Storage survey responders represent around 81 per cent of the total picked crop of British apples and pears. Between them, they have 1,203 stores, which can hold 197,271 tonnes of fruit. That’s around 1.874 billion apples and pears.
• The vast majority (81 per cent) of apple and pear stores are controlled atmosphere stores. However, more than half (63 per cent) of all stores are over 15 years old. The newest stores have the best energy efficiency, which can help to reduce costs.
• While the current storage capacity is appropriate for existing harvest quantities, more investment is needed to both replace old stores and build new stores to meet future growth targets.

Unfortunately, growers lack confidence to make these investments, BAPL said. “This is the most detailed picture we’ve ever had of the UK’s commercial apple and pear orchards — and it’s both inspiring and concerning,” Capper continued.

“While we now have clear evidence that we have the potential to expand British apple and pear production, confidence among growers is being seriously undermined. We urgently need a policy and retail environment that supports long-term investment and growth, or we risk losing a vital part of British farming.”

To achieve the sector’s growth ambitions and help meet UK’s food security and national health targets BAPL has outlined a series of asks of retailers and government.

Specifically, it wants retailers to engage in long-term commitments and contracts that enable growers to invest in new orchards and storage facilities.

Of the government, it wants the Annual Investment Allowance to be increased from £1mn to £10mn to support meaningful investment and efficiency improvements in growing systems, harvesting, grading, packing and storage.

It also wants apple growers, stores and packhouses included in the energy discounts planned for the manufacturing sector, and to ensure that increasing numbers of seasonal workers are available to hand pick the apples and pears in British orchards

Finally, it wants to ensure the continuity of funding for members of PO schemes and for the government to provide clear policy direction on how the end of the scheme will be managed

“We face a watershed moment,” Capper concluded. “We can either stand by and watch the gradual decline of the nation’s orchards, or — with the right collaboration between growers, retailers, and government — we can become a farming and food security success story. It’s time to invest and grow these businesses.”