Nearly half of all apples grown in the UK are used to make cider, and many thousands of acres of new orchards have been planted in the last 15 years to keep pace with the increasing demand for the drink.
Gabe Cook, spokesman for the National Association of Cider Makers (NACM), said an early harvest is an encouraging sign for the industry: ”The harvest has started earlier but then we saw an early blossom in spring,” he said. “Whilst cider makers are always happy to see the apples start to arrive, as an industry we track what happens and when to evaluate the impact of climate change as it presents real opportunities and risks to what we do.
”We are expecting a good harvest and we are especially pleased to see new orchards being harvested after the investment in planting and the time it takes to establish a new orchard.”
Many new varieties of apple, which have taken 25 years to breed, are being harvested for the first time this year. The long-term project is being managed by NACM as part of ongoing research to improve the quality of apples available to cider makers.
It can take up to five years for new orchards to produce apples and it’s typically 10 years before the grower will break even following the investment to plant a new orchard.
Source: NACM
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