The Master of the Fruiterers receives a kind invitation to attend the Fresh Produce Consortium’s annual dinner at The Savoy, where the guest country this year was China. It was a delight to meet so many people who were actively building business partnerships with Chinese companies to develop business links further between the two countries. A magnificent Chinese-inspired meal was enjoyed by all, which was followed by fascinating speeches and wonderful entertainment including Chinese dragons. Jim Rogers, president of the FPC, is a Fruiterer, as were many other attendees.
The Fruiterers’ banquet was held at The Mansion House the following week. A wonderful evening was enjoyed by so many people involved in the fruit business, other walks of life and of course the guests. Diners heard a brilliant speech from Henry Robinson, deputy president of the Country Land & Business Association, who demonstrated with the aid of an apple the diminishing amount of land available on this planet for food production and spoke of the increasing demands placed upon it. He highlighted the need for further research to produce food as effectively as possible given changing requirements of people and a rising population.
I was absolutely delighted to be able to present the Fruiterers’ Matthew Mack Award for Distinguished Achievements for Training Within the Fruit Industry to John Edgeley. John has worked in the fruit business all his life, and most of it has been spent teaching nursery practice and fruit production at Pershore College. Latterly he has been involved with BBC Gardeners’ World, Countryfile and writing articles for amateurs and fruit professionals.
We were fortunate to have with us the Rt Hon The Lord Mayor Alderman David Wootton and the Lady Mayoress, the sheriffs and their partners as well as the high commissioner for Australia, John Dauth, and His Excellency Eduardo Medina Mora of Mexico.
In my own speech I was very keen to focus on the work done by the Fruiterers’ own charities - the Fruit Culture Trust and the Charitable Trust. It is mainly through the Awards Council, which generates our educational and research initiatives, where we seek to act as an independent body promoting excellence and encouraging co-operation between the many sectors of the industry. This is brought about by funding scientific research and travel, supporting Fruiterers’ Nuffield scholars, and presenting awards in our colleges and universities. We are proud to have a presence at the National Fruit Show and we are lead sponsors of the cider pavilion at the Royal Bath & West Show. These are but a few examples along with the major annual awards such as that just made to John Edgeley.
I believe that it is up to all of us to encourage, motivate and inspire those who are already established in the industry as well as those who perhaps are at college or university now and will be our industry leaders in the future. I do see that The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers has a vital role in this and interestingly, the other day I met a recipient of an award presented at Writtle some years ago and he found it very inspiring to have the award and the recognition.
On 15 February the City Food Lecture was held at London’s Guildhall with some 600 guests listening to Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s, delivering the keynote address titled ‘UK Grocery Retailing - Back to the Future?’ As always the lecture was very well crafted, well delivered and of course thought provoking.
The City Food Lecture, originally conceived by the Fruiterers, is an annual, invitation-only fixture in the City of London and food industry calendars. It is organised by the seven livery companies whose roots are in the food industry - namely the Worshipful Companies of Bakers, Butchers, Cooks, Farmers, Fishmongers, Fruiterers and Poulters.
On 22 February there was an Awards Council meeting at East Malling, where the council considered requests for research funding, applications for Nuffield scholarships and also submissions from individuals applying for travel bursaries.
Quietly, but effectively, the Fruiterers are continuing a long tradition of promoting and encouraging excellence. To find out more about how to make such applications, please contact the technical secretary at mike.solomon@msolomon.co.uk. -
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