While supermarkets battle it out to see who can most rile their supplier base, the wholesale markets are quietly rebuilding their confidence.
The disappointment for me from last week’s London Markets’ Symposium, however, was the lack of understanding of food reality shown by people who are frustratingly important when it comes to formulating policy that could help wholesale and retail markets re-establish their historical position in the nation’s psyche.
Rosie Boycott, an ex-journalist who is now Boris Johnson’s chosen food guru, is a depressing case in point. She has extremely limited foodie-based credentials and her obsession with an ill-defined ‘local’ food offer was reflected by the constant need to have a dig at imported products. This deflects attention away from the real issues.
She did admit under duress that there is a need for imported food, which is more realistic, but she was far from alone in the room with her parochial views. Buzz words and phrases like sustainability, food miles and ethical sourcing tripped blithely off the tongue, with no real desire to understand what they entail for the global supply chain or the British consumer.
Gary Marshall was a beacon of common sense and illustrated perfectly the group of people the Mayor should listen to if he really wants to understand food supply. Sadly, politicians prefer to keep first-hand knowledge at arm’s length.
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