I have to be honest this week and say that keeping fully focused between trips to Edgbaston and Old Trafford for the Ashes test matches has not been that easy. In fact the shaking only stopped on Tuesday after Sunday’s incredible climax.

But the concentration has remained firm enough hopefully to bring you a Journal every bit as exciting as England’s 2-run triumph. Well perhaps not, but we have given it our best shot!

At this point our armies of readers around the non-cricket playing world have concluded no doubt they were right all along and I am indeed barmy. That’s not for me to decide I suppose.

But neither is it for me to decide how the industry will choose to respond when confronted with the new promotional plans promised by the FPC next month. Of course I cannot comment on those plans - as they are still well and truly under wraps for now. However, the fact that BMA Communications is on board for the ride - for the second time with the FPC - should at the very least convince most people in the fruit and veg trade that this plan is worth listening too.

The precedent set by BMA in its work with the Banana Group is unparalleled. The campaign was an unqualified success for 20 years before being sadly cut off with much of its potential unfulfilled. That BMA has returned for a second crack after its ill-starred experience with Colours of Life in the late 1990s surely points to a belief that the fresh produce industry is a horse worth backing.

Colours of Life was well-conceived, but it could not convince enough people to support it with their own money. Will the FPC have more luck with its 2005 efforts? That will depend very much on what is put on the table on September 28 - and I hope that the industry is open-minded enough to postpone decisions on its response before that date.

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