Action Briefing Dec 2005 - Jan 2006
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Tesco: the apple of my ailse

Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, is failing British apple growers and fuelling climate change by importing the vast majority of its apples from abroad - and in October, at the height of the UK apple season.

At the request of Friends of the Earth's Food Team, Birmingham Friends of the Earth recently took part in the fourth annual nation-wide apple sourcing survey. Volunteers visited several of the major supermarkets chains (Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Somerfield and Tesco) and greengrocers around the city on 15th October and recording the varieties of apples stocked and their country (or county if UK) of origin. Information on local sourcing, if any, was also noted as was the selection, if any, of organic apples. In total, 181 supermarkets outlets and 63 greengrocers across the country were surveyed.

The results, published by FOE on 11th November, reveal that the majority of apples sold in UK supermarkets during apple season were from outside the UK. Overall, only 35 per cent of supermarket apple lines were sourced from the UK, a slight fall from the figure of 38 per cent in 2003, when Tesco and Asda only were surveyed. Some apples had travelled around 20,000 km to reach our stores. The local greengrocers in the survey obtained 49 per cent of their apple lines from the UK.

In all the supermarkets surveyed, nearly one third of apples (32 per cent) were sourced from outside the EU, compared to 16 per cent in 2003 (when only Tesco and Asda were surveyed). Somerfield was found to have the highest percentage of UK apples with 42 per cent followed by Sainsbury with 40 per cent. Tesco was the worst of the supermarkets for UK sourcing. In this study, Tesco showed the biggest fall (28 per cent, down from 42 per cent in 2003). One quarter of their apples were from countries outside the EU. If they are not being imported at this time these must be apples which are imported, stored, then sold during the UK season.

There are over 2,000 different varieties of UK apple but the total number of British varieties in the supermarkets surveyed was 51, compared to 25 in the greengrocers surveyed, in spite of the fact that nearly three times as many supermarkets were surveyed as greengrocers. Just over one half of the supermarket stores surveyed had organic apples on sale but less than one fifth (18 per cent) of organic supermarket apple lines were from the UK; the majority (56 per cent) were from outside the EU.

Assuming the Food Team staff are not cynical, they must have had high hopes that the situation would have improved this year, particularly with Tesco having spent the year making noises about its commitment to local sourcing of apples. In 2003, in an interview with Tesco's Well Grage Sage in Farming Today (19th November 2003), Tesco promised that "we don't import from August through to February from any Southern Hemisphere country." Tesco sponsored the National Fruit Show and funded conservation work into vintage apples and work on how they can be brought back into shops. And in October this year, Tesco announced its intention to double sales of UK apples over the next three years. But in the middle of the UK apple season nearly a quarter of apple lines in their stores were found to come from outside the EU, including from New Zealand, Chile and South Africa.

Tony Blair bleats on about how unreasonable it is to expect any country to sacrifice the economy to protect the environment, but our very own corporate food giants are merrily sacrificing both. Flying in 'cheap' produce from the far flung corners of the globe generates unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change, while the rapid expansion and growing market power of the big supermarkets chains is driving independent stores out of business. Last year alone, 2,000 independent UK stores closed (source: Association of Convenience Stores).

According to Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affiars (DEFRA) figures (see http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/bhs/2005/fruit.pdf), over the last 10 years the amount of land covered by apple orchards in this country has almost halved, from 16,178 hectares in 1994/5 to 9,150 hectares in 2004/5, as a result of uncertainties over the market price. If these trends continue, British apples could end up as a niche market with the majority coming from overseas.

A full briefing detailing the results of Friends of the Earth'sapple survey 2005 is available from the press office or on-line at
www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases tesco_comes_bottom_of_the_09112005.html

Karen Leach and James Botham

Take Action
FoE is calling on the Government to break up the supermarket monopoly and to set up an independent supermarket watchdog to protect both consumer and producer interests. Write to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and ask for: legally binding rules to ensure all suppliers are treated fairly; independent regulators to ensure these rules are followed; support for local shops from local authorities and Government; and accountability for internationally recognised workers' rights. You can e-mail Mr Johnson from www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/tesco_takeover_dti/ or write to him at Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET. You could also copy your letter to the supermarkets.

In the meantime, buy your apples from greengrocers, markets or farm shops, and be sure to check their place of origin.