To think it’s ridiculous no supermarket nearby has British apples

[Sladuf]

Not expecting a lot of traffic for this one but hear me out.

For the second consecutive year every supermarket near me has 0 British apples and it’s nearly September. British apple season is well underway and yet the “seasonal” apples (this is what they were marked up as) in Tesco when I checked yesterday were from Chile.

Some of our best varieties that actually have a decent flavour and crunch are the early ones like Discovery, which I never struggled to get hold of come August, from Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Waitrose or Sainsbury’s any year before 2023. Thought it was a fluke last year but alas it’s the same this year.

Morrisons was no better than Tesco: even Polish apples were in stock last Friday! Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, supposedly quintessentially British, also letting the side down. Don’t even go there when it comes to Asda: they’re hopeless every year.
Plenty of South African or New Zealand apples. Nothing from Britain.

How do you like them apples? I’d rather British ones you can only get when they’re in season please!

I bought British apples in Lidl this morning.

I've voted YABU because 4 / 5 of the apple trees in my garden have no apples at all.

I also have a pear tree with no pears, and didnt get a single cherry from my 2 cherry trees either this year.

So if the trees arn't growing the fruit you would expect how are the shops meant to sell it?

With the exception of green leafy veg, and beetroot ALL of our home grown fruit and veg have been terrible this year. Thank goodness i don't try to be self sufficient or else we would starve to death this year!

I went to an apple farm in Somerset last weekend, and the owner said it was a really poor crop of plums and apples this year due to the cold wet spring. But I still bought 3 kg of Discovery apples, as they are SO good.

They really are. I’ve yet to try a variety of apple with a taste I prefer. I’ve been happiy eating at least 4 per day when they’re in season for the last 30 odd years, mostly bought from the supermarkets. We’ve had some shite years weather wise in that time, which have affected the crops obviously, but until last year I’d never been unable to get Discovery apples from at least one of the supermarkets. Waitrose was pretty reliable.
I was determined for this to not be a second year on the trot so I’ve managed to source some Discovery apples from a farm too, which I’m collecting later.

All the bagged apples in my local Sainsbury's are from distant places - I absolutely refuse to buy ones flown from New Zealand or S. Africa. However I found that the individual ones, Braeburn or Jazz currently i think, are actually from Kent so I've been buying them. A bit more pricey that way, but DS eats fruit like it's going out of fashion so I need to keep stocked up. Braeburns are reasonable for crunchiness too.
Like a pp I have resorted to buying pears at times, though the kids complain about finding the 'perfect pear' window.

Isn't it ridiculous that there's so much BS around the environment and sustainability and a really easy way to resolve this would be to shop locally instead of globally

My cooking apple tree seems to be doing well enough, but they're not ready yet.

My neighbour's beautiful red eating apples are having a poor year. Last year the branches were bent over with fruit.
They weren't able to prune it this year either.

It's early in the season anyway and the weather was appalling at pollination time.

I've been able to get British Braeburns in Aldi.

It seems to be a good year for blackberries though- late warmth and sun compared to some Augusts.

British apple and pear production is way down, due to a combination of climate change and inflation. Looks to be a dying industry in the UK.

Somebody said there is nobody to pick them :-). Sounds possible.

I've honestly never noticed, the ethnicity of apples does not bother me, only the taste. Does it matter? I didn't realise there was anything special about apples being British.

Asda do Bramleys, golden delicious, Braeburn and granny smith from Antrim. I noticed some others from Spain and Australia but didn't go through all their apples.

British apples can also be bought from Ocado, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, M&S and the Co-op. I daresay they all run out of stock at times but they appear to be in those stores atm. I do my shopping online and have it delivered, ring the changes with supermarkets according to what I want, and often purchase apples.

I have no idea about orchards but my single pear tree usually produces loads of pears but a lot were lost to torrential rain when they were 2-3 inches long.

There are about 4 now that will be edible.

Probably a bit early yet but Waitrose usually have a selection of different ones

Ocado have some

This would be why you're not seeing them op

My favourite is Macintosh Reds, but otherwise I agree would be great to see more British apples around.

My apples aren't ready yet. September is the season not august

Just bought Jazz apples yesterday. Can't stand Braeburn or Pink Lady.

i used to go to a weekly market for lovely spartan apples

it is just wrong not to be able to find british apples

I’ve worked in a supermarket. This is always the low point of supplies of English apples before this year’s are ripe. They are stored in an oxygen free environment from last autumn. Many suppliers ran out months ago. If you want to support British farmers, shop seasonally and according to climate change.

Spartan is my favourite! Very hard to get now. Do look for Goatham - a large Kent based grower who develop new varieties and seem to work with Sainsbury.

I have 2 apple espaliers I have apples on them but they are starting to fall off unripe. I didn't get any last year.

Poor weather means poor harvest so lower yield for home grown food. Ours are small and not ready to pick yet. Very few blackberries this year.

Ocado do a British seasonal apple bag

The Braeburns are likely last season’s. They’re known for storing well and thanks to modern storage methods we get apples for far longer than used to be possible - almost all year round

Discoveries are soo delicious and I look forward to august for them. A farm shop near me sells them thankfully. Id never get them in a supermarket.
Russets next and I think they have a longer season so you can get them sometimes in supermarkets.

Aldi have recently done a huge multimillion contract with British apple farmers for British apples. That's where I'd look. They are fantastic for supporting British farmers and paying them a fair price for their produce.

I have all my fruit and veg from a local market and have had apples from the UK.