New juice brand hopes to restore apple biodiversity

Rare apple varieties such as Tydeman’s Late Orange, May Queen and William Crump are among those that are being sold in a new apple juice range launched to help protect biodiversity.

New juice company Wildpress is seeking out lesser-known apple varieties and partnering with community and biodynamic orchards to help protect biodiversity and small-scale growing.   

It has been set up by entrepreneurs Nadeem Lalani Nanjuwany and Adam Grout, who said they want to challenge the perception of commercial, homogenous juices commonly found on shelves, after learning about the decline in heritage apple varieties in Britain.

“We knew we had to find a solution where everyone benefited – the grower, the orchard, the customer and nature – this involves seeing things differently with a unique, ‘no rules’ approach to picking, pressing, blending and tasting, which results in presses that celebrate nature’s intricate and natural inconsistencies,” the pair said in a statement.

“We hope to be part of the solution and have plans to release more presses and develop our approach to grow our impact,” they said. Lalani previously founded Jikoni restaurant in London with his wife and food writer, Ravinder Bhogal.

In their first year, Wildpress has bought and pressed 38 lesser-known varieties of apple including Tydeman’s Late Orange, May Queen, William Crump, Carlisle Codlin and Orleans Reinette,

The company has been partnering with four orchards including two small, biodynamically certified orchards; another in Somerset that is preserving traditional varieties; and a community-owned orchard in Kent.

Wildpress launches this week and will be available for sale primarily through its own website.