Author Topic: An interesting article on the apples in our shops. (Read 5384 times)

Bodger · « **on:** October 22, 2013, 05:54:24 am »

Here's an interesting article on the apples being sold in our shops. One day, New Zealand will rule the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24578762

Bodger · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2013, 09:30:51 am »

or maybe its not as interesting as I thought.

happygolucky · « **Reply #2 on:** October 22, 2013, 09:42:57 am »

I was going to read it when I got up but I find it hard to take too much in until my brain has been refreshed with 3 cups of tea....
I miss the old fashioned apples like the Cox or granny smiths.......most apples I end up buying never have the extra bite or sharpness, they are often a bit bland as with many other fruit and veg...not too sure what variety are on our trees as they are young and not many on them anyway, but the ones I tied were just what I like, crisp, sharpe and yet sweet!!!
Looks like New Zealand are the main suppliers..interesting

Fleecewife · « **Reply #3 on:** October 22, 2013, 09:57:11 am »

It certainly is interesting Bodger

I have always hated Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious as they may be crunchy but they have no taste. The word was that this was caused by the French climate, where they were grown initially, not being really suitable for apple production. I believe that NZ has a climate closer to our own so apples grown there might suit our own tastes better than apples from other areas of the world.

The point the article makes that what we buy is heavily influenced by advertising and what the supermarkets sell is so true. I have tackled Tesco before about not selling locally produced fruit and vegetables (and meat), or at least British produced, but they always come up with the old lie - 'it's what the customer wants'. B******s. It's what suits the supermarkets as being all the same size, available whenever they want them, last a while on the shelves (although it doesn't seem to stop them tossing million of tonnes of food each year) and so on. It's also what the public has been trained to want through constant advertising. If you have it hammered into your head that, say, pink lady is THE apple, with the most taste etc etc, then eventually even the most resistant of us will give it a try. And who knows - it may well be wonderful, but I've not tried it.

For me, commercially grown apples' skins are too thick so I tend to get them stuck in my throat and end up having to peel them. I love Cox's and I love Blenheim Orange. When I buy apples it's British-grown Cox's and the variety I grow is Blenheim Orange - Cox's don't grow here. The flavour is superb and simply nothing like bought apples from overseas. However, how many people have all year round access to home grown apples - no-one. So we get lazy and just buy from the supermarkets year round.

The British Apple Industry is improving understanding of how wonderful our own, traditional apples are but I can't imagine they can compete with the high level of advertising the big overseas producer's groups can bombard us with.

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2013, 10:25:12 pm »

I love Pink Lady so I was interested to read the article. Unfortunately research suggests that they won't grown in the UK unless we have an exceptional summer.

My russets did very well this year but they are not my favourite.

hexhammeasure · « **Reply #5 on:** October 22, 2013, 11:02:26 pm »

a friend brought some pink lady's from her garden last week - they are magnificent

midtown · « **Reply #6 on:** October 22, 2013, 11:24:01 pm »

Tip!
If you want Cox's, try Aldi. Currently selling Cox's labelled as being from East Sussex. They are small but everything a Cox should be.
Highly recommended!

HesterF · « **Reply #7 on:** October 23, 2013, 12:41:04 am »

It is interesting. You can buy sweet, crunchy English apples (I was about to cite Spartan but have just looked it up and apparently it was Canadian originally). Anyhow, we went to the National Fruit Tree collection's Apple Day at Brogdale on Saturday and they grow over 2000 varieties of apples - over half of which are traditional old English. Having samples just a few of those, the variety of texture and taste was amazing. I have a few more written down that I'd like to plant. I wonder whether the advantage of the NZ/Australian apples is mostly their ability to store/be moved? Many of our sweet, crunchy apples don't store all that well - and I know I love Pink Lady and Jazz so it's not all bad, certainly an improvement on Golden Delicious.

H

Ina · « **Reply #8 on:** October 23, 2013, 05:52:18 am »

I once had Golden Delicious grown organically in Germany... It was a revelation. It's not just the variety, it's also how they are grown.

I stick to whatever I get at Lidl's from Britain - Coxes these days, which have always been a favourite anyway.