Tesco’s sales of British apples have dropped by over 50% compared with the start of the 2022 season, new data has revealed.
The retailer saw sales decline from 2,902 tonnes of British apples in October 2022 to 1,325 tonnes in October 2023, according to British Apples & Pears.
Tesco’s performance was described as “disappointing” by executive chair Ali Capper.
“We know from consumer comments on our social channels that they get very excited about buying new season, home-grown British apples,” she said. “Sadly, Tesco has let them and British top fruit growers down.”
In October 2023, Tesco sold 9.8% of all British apples, compared with its grocery market share of 27.4%.
Meanwhile, Lidl boosted its sales by 51.7% compared with last year, buying 2,030 tonnes of new season British apples via BAP members.
This represents 22.1% of all British apple sales in October, compared with the supermarket’s grocery market share of just 7.6%.
“Lidl’s performance is outstanding,” said Capper. “They really got behind British apples in our first month of the new season.”
She also noted that Sainsbury’s and Aldi also did “very well, taking 2,764 and 2,628 tonnes of British apples respectively during the month”.
Tesco has been approached for comment.
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