We’ve enjoyed seeing our good friend the Michelin starred chef Raymond Blanc working hard to help launch this autumn’s Great British apple and pear harvest.
For although a proud Frenchman, Blanc has lived and worked in the UK for decades and is firmly convinced that British apples are the best in the world.
Hardly surprising then that he has added his voice to this year’s campaign by the British Apples and Pears Industry to promote the fruit to retailers and ensure that the nation’s supermarkets are well stocked with home-grown, British varieties.
Celebrity chef and multi award winning restaurateur, Blanc is well known to regular followers of Clive Conway Productions for the annual Christmas Carol concerts and champagne dinners staged at his exquisite restaurant, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in the Oxfordshire countryside.
They will know that he only endorses the best so there is perhaps little surprise that he is backing brilliant British apples and pears.
There’s certainly plenty of them. In fact a staggering 1.6 billion apples and pears will be picked by hand in British orchards this year.
Last month Blanc appeared on a BBC Countryfile programme extolling their virtues and also contributed to a special apples and pears radio day.
His message is simple: The new apple and pear season is the perfect time to enjoy our home-grown fruit and change our lockdown snacking habits for the better!