Yahoo News Giant apples appear on UK supermarket shelves after weird frosty spring weather
Forget about that giant turkey this year – you might want to bite a big apple this Christmas instead.
A British supermarket has produced a jumbo crop of Braeburn apples which are more than twice their normal size.
The mammoth fruits are the result of the latest British frost for nearly 20 years, which went right into April.
Supermarket chain Morrisons said it means the average giant apple weighs in at 450g, dwarfing the usual Braeburn which has a weight of 170g.
The supermarket said 10% of its Braeburn crop was affected by the weird spring weather.
It said it is the biggest apple sold in recent memory.
Most popular on Yahoo News UK
Two men in court over alleged foiled plot to assassinate Theresa May
Jamie Skinner jailed for life for murdering father-of-five at Plymouth railway station
Muslim school in Staffordshire failed to provide soap, toilet roll or drinking water to pupils
Love at first light: Woman gets engaged to a chandelier
Hundreds of Isis fighters may be heading to Europe after being smuggled out of Raqqa
A colder April may have stopped apple trees from flowering fully, but favourable conditions in the growing season gave the remaining fruit a nutrients boost which made them massive.
Although the apples don’t meet the supermarket’s usual specifications, it has decided to put them on sale – 120,000 giant Braeburns are available in stores over the next two weeks.
‘These giant British Braeburn apples offer great value,’ said Mark Booth, apple expert at Morrisons.
‘Our relationship with our growers meant we were able to take the whole crop from our apple farmers and ensure these huge but delicious apples are eaten.’
Melvyn Newman, a grower from Howfield Farm, Chartham, Kent, said: ‘Over a third of our Braeburns this year are a much bigger size, and with a smaller crop overall it would have been heartbreaking to leave oversized fruit on the trees when they are just as tasty and with better colour.’
