The resilient and tangy Jazz apples have been making their way to supermarkets this month. Despite all the weather setbacks in June and July, everything looks good now as crops are being harvested in earnest.
At grower Chandler & Dunn in Kent, they couldn’t be more thrilled. This week they got a chance to celebrate their batch of new-season apples with Team GB track and field long jumper Jazmin Sawyers, who visited the farm to see them first-hand.
Tony Harding, Procurement and Technical Director at Worldwide Fruit, says the apples are brilliant, a relief to those who grow them and made it through those struggles.
“The season hasn’t been without its challenges, and it has been a difficult growing season for the UK growers,” he says. “A mild winter resulted in a very early flowering season. Thankfully, we avoided any damage from spring frosts and the pollination period went well with a good fruit set in almost all Jazz orchards.
“The crop has progressed well, and the growers have produced a superb crop of Jazz. Fruit colouration looks outstanding and skin finish looks fabulous. We are looking forward to a strong campaign with great quality fruit for the consumers.”
Sawyers’ appearance was one of an array of promotions done by Jazz this year, helping the brand break its own sales records. Jazz’s summer tour saw more than 440,000 pieces of apples get consumed at six Foodies Festivals in Brighton, Cardiff, Oxford, Chelmsford, Glasgow and Cheshire.
Along with the British Heart Foundation, it also helped nourish more than 1,300 swimmers at this year’s Bournemouth Pier to Pier swim with apples.
“It’s been another hugely busy but positive 12 months for the JAZZ Apple brand with a host of exciting campaigns taking place and existing partnerships renewed but the icing on the cake is our record-breaking sales in May,” says Hannah McIlfatrick, Commercial Director of Worldwide Fruit Ltd. “The data proves that the love for Jazz in the UK just gets stronger and stronger each year.
