Grapes top of the bunch after pipping apple sales

GRAPES have overtaken apples to become Britain’s best selling fruit for the first time.

A record £604million was spent on grapes in the past 12 months, industry statistics show. At the same time, just £600million was spent on apples and £551 million on bananas.

While apple sales rose by £12.1million, a 2.1 per cent increase in value, this was down to price rises for the fruit which had been hit by poor weather conditions. Volumes fell by 1.5 per cent, the report in The Grocer said.

Grape sales, though, rose in both value and volume with an extra 3.6 per cent being spent on bunches and a 4.1 per cent rise in the number sold.

Bananas, too, saw their sales rise by £19million and remain the top selling fruit by weight if not by value.

The rising popularity of grapes is down to consumer lifestyles, it added, with just a handful being considered a healthy and convenient snack for lunchboxes and “snack packs” sold by supermarkets.

Apples are available in similar packs but do not last as long once they are sliced, making them less popular with supermarkets, which are more likely to include grapes than apples as part of their meal deals.

All imported fruit has seen its price rise because of the falling pound. This has also led to more of Britain’s own apple crop being sold abroad because our exports are cheaper and farmers will make more money exporting apples abroad than selling them in the UK. That has created a shortage which, in turn, pushes prices up be even more.

Jack Wark, chief executive of the British Growers Association, said: “It has become more expensive to bring fruit and veg in from Europe but British growers have seen input costs rise significantly too.

“Grapes are a very good, convenient snack. Tesco is even using them in its meal deals now.”