British Apples & Pears Limited held its annual AGM at NIAB‘s new Mumford Building in East Malling, Kent and online (via Zoom) on Wednesday, 2nd April 2025.
BAPL was delighted to share the day with friends and colleagues from the National Fruit Show. The National Fruit Show held its AGM first, followed by a guest speaker and then BAPL ran its AGM. Many attendees joined for all three sessions.
The guest speaker was Defra shadow minister, Robbie Moore. Robbie spoke about the concerns he shares with growers. Specifically, he talked about the Land Use Framework Consultation, IHT and changes to compulsory purchase powers. Robbie stressed his belief that food security should be at the heart of Defra. In addition to sharing his thoughts, Robbie also answered questions from growers at the AGM. He stayed all morning and listened to concerns, also making practical suggestions to help.
Above image (L to R): Ali Capper, executive chair of BAPL, Robbie Moore, MP.
In the BAPL AGM, Ali Capper provided an update on the extensive activities in the last financial year (August 2023 to July 2024). This included:
- The output of a strategic review into the future activity of BAPL, including the strongly positive feedback from members about current activities
- R&D highlights
- The extensive retail and government advocacy work
- An update on export activities
- An overview of the crop and sales to date (September 2024 to February 2025)
- Social media reach performance up 147% on 2023
- Website visitors up 48% on 2023
- Huge success with the #OrchardWatch social media posts sharing a fascinating look inside our growers’ orchards
- The great start of season promotional work from several retailers to get behind British at this crucial time
- The plans for 2025, which include working with retailers to ensure we see new season apples on TV and celebrated in store and online
If you missed the AGM, you can view the slides below: