British apple and pear orchards are set to shrink as growers have cancelled 150,000 new tree orders this season. The reason for this is that prices offered by supermarkets have failed to match the rising cost of production. A survey of British Apple and Pear (BAPL) members, which represents 80 per cent of all British apple and pear growers, found a major retreat in future orchards, with the blame being placed firmly at the door of supermarket prices being offered to growers.
British growers had been planning to expand their orchards by planting 480,000 new trees, the group said, before the cost of energy and other inputs started rising. However, growers are facing around a 23 per cent increase in how much it costs to grow apples and pears, including things like the cost of paying pickers, energy, distribution and packaging.
These rises are being met with almost static average fruit prices paid by retailers, with growers receiving an average of 0.8 per cent year-on-year increase in what supermarkets pay them for their fruit.
Source: wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk