Björn Ranelid’s passion for apples knows no bounds. Every day he is at home in Kivik on Österlen, he runs laps through the long rows of trees. Earlier in life he ate upwards of 15 apples every day. Today there are slightly fewer.
– Now the number is five or six. You have to think about your stomach too.
2024 also looks set to be a good year for apple lovers. Several growers that SVT spoke to believe that it could be a record year, partly due to good weather conditions during the spring.
Large quantities are thrown away
However, there is a downside to the large harvests. Figures from both the Swedish Agricultural University and the consumer organization Äkta vara show that only a fraction of the apples grown in Swedish gardens are eaten. According to some estimates, it is as little as five percent.
A common problem is that the apples are not harvested in time and thus begin to rot on the ground as fallen fruit. It is something Björn Ranelid tries to avoid at all costs, he explains.
– Children grow on all the trees in the world, and when small children fall, you have to be there with your hands and nurture and take care of it so that it doesn’t become fallen fruit, says the author and adds that he actually eats fallen fruit too.