Apples for Apples

From September 14th, for every Seasonal British Apple you buy on the app or in store, we’ll give an apple to one of the 14 London schools we work with through Chefs in Schools*. Last year it took us just four weeks to hit our target of 11,700 apples — enough to see the schools through to the Christmas holidays. This year, our target is 13,100. Track our progress:

Today, the health of our school children and the fruit industry are both in crisis. We know that Apples for Apples won’t solve either, but we are boldly optimistic that we can help gain awareness, inspire creative solutions, and trigger communal action. 

The pressure that this puts on school catering services pushes kitchens even further away from nutritious meals for all. It is vital that children are not just fed at school, but are introduced to healthy, nutrient-dense diets. Children from lowest income families are both more likely to arrive at school hungry, and leave school obese.

We have worked with Chefs in Schools since September 2019. Together, we push to replace packet mixes and ultra-processed readymade meals with fresh food, made from scratch. Through Apples for Apples, your fruit shop will put British seasonal apples into the hands of school children. 

Growers face large cost increases for labour, storage, haulage, tree planting and orchard maintenance. Average: £1.26 cost to produce a kilo of British Gala apples. Meanwhile, supermarkets increase prices, but refuse to increase these back to the grower sufficient to cover production costs.

As a result, British growers are being forced to grub out their orchards and pause investments in replanting. Domestic apples account for about 40% of all apples sold in supermarkets. We want to see this increase, not decrease as orchards are grubbed out.

Our Seasonal British Apples are from John in the Sussex High Weald who we've worked with for 13 years. In ordering his apples, you're putting your weight behind a third generation grower whose commitment to diverse apple varieties and nurturing orchard biodiversity translates to exceptional fruit.