As the English Cox season gets set for its official launch at Kensington Palace later this month the signs are that there will be larger volumes than initially anticipated. It is one of the latest starts to the season for many years, but the market is steady with only limited carryovers of southern hemisphere fruit. Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples and Pears, believes the final figure could rise from the current 58,000 tonnes to 65,000 tonnes as the fruit has continued to size up. "There will be a better grade-out than last season, which was a light year," said Barlow, "and skin finish is better." He said there would be sufficient fruit to last until March and the variety would be able to regain the shelf space that it lost last year. However, he said that he would like to see Cox retailing at 59p/lb and only 10p less for promotions given the competition that English fruit has been facing. Gala, our second largest dessert variety, also looks promising with a 5% increase, which will push availability up to 18,000 tonnes. Class 1 fruit will also account for about 90% of grade-out, compared with 70% in 2000. Despite competition from France and Italy, the variety is still expected to hold a premium at about 49p/lb. Egremont Russet has retained its niche as a gourmet apple and the 4,000 tonnes sold will peak during the Christmas period. While the colour of the fruit will be not affected there will be less russeting. September will also see a plethora of limited varieties arrive, including Worcester. Harvesting starts next week and there are reports there has been an overall reduction of 17%, bringing the total to 3,000 tonnes. Jonagold, sold in April onwards, will be lighter by more than a third, at 7,000 tonnes. Spartan, at 2,500, tonnes remains similar to last year. {{M/E FRESH PRODUCE }}