Season: October to March

A relatively new introduction to the UK which was first planted in commercial volumes during the 1980s. The variety represents about 20% of the total volume of the commercial production of eating apples grown in UK.

Appearance: the shape is oblong conical. Background skin colour is light yellow which is overlaid with bright orange/red stripes which can merge to give areas of unbroken red top-colour. The flesh is creamy white.

Eating Characteristics: the flavour is sweet. The skin is relatively thin and the flesh is fine-textured and firm (but not hard) with good levels of juice. However it has to be said that if you want a reliable sweet easy-eating apple, Gala is actually hard to beat. However, anyone fortunate enough to have tried a Gala will know that it has a surprisingly punchy sweet flavour.