There is an article dated 4 May 2024 in the New Yorker titled “The English Apple Is Disappearing.” It concerns Britain’s loss of its local cultivars. The author is Sam Knight. I won’t share the whole article, but here are a few points that really caught my attention.
In 1899, County Devon had 26,000 acres of apple orchards. Ninety per cent of those are thought to be gone. Throughout Britain, commercial growers have been losing money in recent years, and only a few may be able be able to survive.
One reason is that cost of producing apples in the U.K. has increased by thirty per cent since 2021, but retail prices have risen by only a quarter of that.
Another reason is they can’t compete with cheap apples coming in from overseas. About sixty per cent of apples sold in the U.K. are now imported.
Of the twenty-five or so varieties of eating apple now grown commercially in Britain, only nine originated in England. Between 2015 and 2020, the annual crop of Cox’s Orange Pippin, for example, dropped in half. Other heritage varieties that were once treasured are just not available. Younger Britons now favor Galas and other sweet and crunchy varieties that the apple growers lament have no taste.
I’m not sure how different this is from the rest of the world.
It is a global loss. I have Pionier from Romania grafted out. A fine little grower bred in 1982 as a “Vf” scab resistant apple. It’s smallish medium and the markets are ignoring a nice low maintenance tree.
I read the listings of Bernewold Nursery in the UK. They have a series of un-identified apple varieties they get from dying trees or last orchard survivors. They give many a nursery name. While they DNA test to see what apple or cross it could be.
I’d dearly love to get a rare Fillingham Pippin which like Lord Burghley is a great roots by cutting apple. Great taster and long keeper. There are dozens just hanging on.
But we see that here too. When I buy from a heritage orchard here I try to buy a few slow movers to keep the genetics going. This year I’m getting Branch, Brogden, Little Benny, Schumacher and Vine. Not on my list. But not hot sellers that can work here. Good warm climate apples.
It is similar here in America. Our markets have chosen apples with long storage power over taste or disease/pest resistance. It started with the red delicious but eventually the red delicious had sports here that made the apple have less flavor. It ended up falling out of favor to the pink lady, cosmic crisp, fuji and the most popular of all the honeycrisp apples. A lot of our fruit is imported or it is not creating jobs as the jobs that are here are given to green card immigrants. I think someone made a video on it with the Georgia peach video. In the west like California, Arizona, CO, New Mexico and Nevada there has been talks about where water has to be given. Most fruit produced in the United States is produced in California but it is also where most of the population is (One county in California makes up the population of 44 states). I would assume you are running into a population problem as well given the fact that many countries in Europe are only the size of one USA state but hold a lot of people. According to google Britain holds 66.7 million people but again is not nearly the size of the USA. This means land is an aspect to consider as well.
From my understanding if left is an area to ripen the Fuji apple can become a sugar cube. You need a long season for that though. The only disease resistant Fuji type I have found was a cultivar Stark Bros was selling but no longer sales. That cultivar also ripens mid to late October as well even if you can get your hands on it.
Yeah, I’ve read that apples’ flavors change after sitting for a while.
With Apricots, I’ve experienced the same: I think because the trees weren’t able to make Apricots, because the Winters weren’t mild enough, for like 14-15 years, the first time they made Apricots, they tasted electric, they tasted like tangerines, oranges, and then Apricot (a little), and, if you left them on the countertop, after an hour, they tasted like honey, then, finally, if they sat a day, they tasted like normal Apricot. LOL
That is an interesting trait. But one that would drive consumers nuts.
I’m concentrating on:
A} Georgia Origin Apples
B} Southern Apples that grow well from the lower Piedmont to the coast.
C} Foreign Apples that have unique traits or are rare in their homeland. That will be the last phase though.
I only intended to propagate the varieties. But it occurs placing some of stars of the repository into a small production orchard would be useful. So we can exhibit young trees with their fruit. Of course you’d have different types all the season.
I see Orchards flat sell out of historical apples fast. One brought in about 30 bushels of Yates and they sold out in a few days. People just are not aware great tasting apples they never knew about are available. I’m sure you must see the exact same in other fruits.
I think some ripen more off the tree like pluots will taste better. The big issue with cultivars like Fuji is there is no legal requirement to name if it is an earlier ripening sport or a tree ripened fuji. There are Fuji like Beni Shogun and then there are Fuji like Red Fuji. Beni Shogun will ripen in September but it will not taste as good as a tree ripened Fuji that was on the tree until November from what I hear. The issue is it needs more time than many areas will allow for to tree ripen to get a good flavor. Same with Pink Lady. A good Pink Lady needs to ripen till mid November.
So the thing about most fruits is they are pretty much a copy and paste. How much are you going to notice a difference with a Bing Cherry to a sweetheart cherry? Apples heavily change in taste. Most find that one apple they love and don’t like to deviate. The recognized apples are the super market apples. Most people are not concerned with what a cultivar is or self pollinating etc. One time I was at Costco and heard a couple talking. They knew they liked honey crisp apples and saw the tree but did not understand honey crisp needs a pollinator and planned to get 1 tree. That is the average population.
I just read another article about Heineken, the largest cider producer in England, cutting down a 300-acre cider orchard in order to sell the land. They stated the decline in demand for cider spurred the decision. Someone here in the US considering a Cider venture would have to take pause and wonder how the market here will develop. The Bourbon and Whiskey market is already predicting a decline in demand and a need to reduce prices.
Yes I think we have reached Peak Cider here in the US, planting a cider orchard would not be a good move now.
The thing that bothers me the most about the newer apples is the taste spectrum is so narrow. Every apple has to be a candy-fruity crunch bomb. No tannins, no nuttiness, no rose petals, etc etc.
From my experience with drinking you are either a heavy one or not. Some go to the pub every night or I knew a couple that would go clubbing every weekend. I am known as the guy who refuses to drink. We have drank non alcoholic cider when going up to the mountains but that has been years.
As a bourbon drinker, that market could do with a price reduction. The same is generally true for all high end spirits.
As for Fuji, @Well_Well_Well, hang time has been discussed, and that is, IMO, likely the primary driver in the quality of the fruit you get to eat, but water, soil and climate, in fewer words, terroir, also matter. In my climate, Fuji, Auvil Early Fuji at that, is excellent. It’s not only incredibly sweet, but has some nuanced complexity, as it also delivers some acid that you’ll never find in the supermarket version. On the other hand, I’ve never eaten a Honeycrisp I’ve enjoyed, since all that are available in my area come from Washington state, which, as I understand it, is not an ideal climate for that apple. It’s supposed to be at its best in the upper Midwest and maybe parts of the Northeast.
Anyway, this has been discussed before. Many supermarket apples are pretty good when grown at home and harvested at peak ripeness. They may not be as good as the all time great eaters, but many, perhaps most, are quite good apples when grown at home.
With respect to the OP topic, it’s a shame that the local cultivars are finding a diminished market. One can hope that small growers who sell at farmers’ markets or from shacks on their own properties are able to maintain enough loyal customers who know and appreciate great apples to remain in business, not unlike small growers in the US. Beyond that, it’s probably up to folks like us to keep these varieties in the ground and introduce them to all of our friends and fruit interested acquaintances. I have held small tastings, distributed many trees I’ve grafted and topworked a number of mature trees to interesting varieties that their owners never knew before but now appreciate. One tree and one new convert at a time is how we make a difference.
U guys prefer imported apple ( reasonably picked in local season) or local Apple (frozen, sold up intil 9 months after picking)?. Im my country the Netherlands there are no imported apples( except from granny smith that comes from italy ( also frozen). All aples in store are from last season, and they taste shaite in my opinion. Last week i ate the last of my Karmijn de sonnaville, harvested last year, kept great untill now without freezing. Im not keen on Importing to much but i would not mind eating an apple picked two weeks ago instead of 8 months😬
Dear Lodidian, I am from Pakistan and living in Karakorum Mountains in Hunza, here is the situation that is similar to England, before 1985 we were producing only local varieties (around 19 in number according to my info). However in 1985 we were introduced to Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Kala Kulu and with the passage of time since then we have been lost around 11 local or native cultivars. We actually not only lost the cultivars but the taste as well…
This shift can be attributed to changing consumer preferences and lifestyles, where individuals are looking for convenience and products that can last longer without spoiling.
Believe it or not; we do have many wonderful local apples that store until April/May/June with out the need of freezing. And are not “Club Apples”. We even have most of your apples to grow if we want them.
Ironic. I was looking at Pakistani Apples the other day considering some Amir varieties. I take it they are fairly sour.
Strange Red and Golden Delicious came as late as 1985. I feel like I’m in a time warp looking at Eastern Euro orchards with so many stalwarts of a hundred years ago’s top names.
I see trade journals opinioning growers should flatten everything and plant “Club Apples”. But wonder if it is a mistake. Maybe market some genuine local ones instead. Palates are subjective? Or are they really defined by marketing firms???
In the 60’s & 70’s the comrades in Eastern Europe were set on unifying small parcels (goodbye to plenty of local varieties and seedlings growing on divides and as windbreakers) and exterminating most old (hence inherently outdated and bad) orchards. And replacing old varieties with “new and better”. (Feel free to pull the criteria for “better” from a hat - someone claimed it arbitrarily or someone was forced to create evidence because there was a constant political demand for “better and more at faster pace”. ) There wereva lot of great new varieties created at that time, but only few made it to mass production.
In the past maybe 10-15 years we are seing a revival of old (some of them US/Canadian bred and brought in before/between World Wars) and older local varieties. Where before 90’s you’d find maybe 3-5 apple varieties , now the nurseries offer 50-100 varieties and there are nurseries specialising in old and local fruit trees. They also get planted in cities. It is mostly thanks to a few individuals who pushed the marketing and education as volunteers.
There is also an overall trend in market messaging that buying and growing local varieties is cool and a matter of furthering cultural heritage.
Surprisingly, even Tesco and other large stores offer at least some local ( in their case broadly Slovak, Czech and Austrian) newer and tasty varieties. So we can choose a Zuzana or Evelina instead of the watery and tastless Granny Smith or a Gala (tastless when imported).
I wonder, when pears will catch up on this trend…