UK supermarkets sold a record 180,506 tonnes of British apples and pears in the 2025/26 season, up 10.4% on the year before, according to grower body British Apples & Pears.
Apple sales rose 8.6% to 162,331 tonnes. Pears did even better, rising 29.3% to 18,175 tonnes, their highest level since 2018/19.
Aldi and Lidl punch above their weight
The retailer figures show how important the discounters have become to British growers.
| Retailer | British fruit sales | Share of British fruit vs. grocery market share |
|---|---|---|
| Tesco | Top for apples: 34,436 tonnes | |
| Aldi | 34,246 tonnes of apples, just 190 tonnes behind Tesco | 21.2% of British apple sales, vs. 10.5% of the grocery market |
| Sainsbury’s | Top for pears: 6,012 tonnes, up 13.7% | |
| Lidl | 18.9% of British pear sales, vs. 8.3% of the grocery market |
In other words, Aldi sells around twice as many British apples as its overall size would suggest, and Lidl more than twice as many British pears.
Long-term deals behind the growth
Aldi’s position is built partly on a long-term partnership. In 2024 it signed a £750 million, 20-year agreement with Kent grower AC Goatham & Son, its sole British apple supplier, including a dedicated 200-acre “Aldi Orchard” at Gravesend planted with Gala and Braeburn. The grower planned to plant a further 100 acres a year for Aldi, and already supplied an estimated 250 million apples and pears a year, more than five times its 2016 volume.
That kind of commitment is exactly what growers have been asking for. In January, British Apples & Pears called on retailers to offer multi-year supply partnerships and fair returns, as independent analysis by Andersons Farm Consulting forecast production costs rising around 2% in 2026, driven mainly by labour.
A sweet season ahead
The record comes as growers bring in one of the best-flavoured crops in years. After the UK’s warmest, sunniest summer on record, British Conference pears this season measured 19% Brix, a measure of natural sugar, against a typical 12%.
British Apples & Pears executive chair Ali Capper has said frost, hail, sunscorch and drought made this year’s fruit more costly to grow and harvest, and the organisation says continued planting is essential to keep British production going. Strong sales and long-term retail partnerships will be key to making that happen.
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