Nuffield scholar Peter Gresty has won the John Stewart Shield for his paper on vegetable innovation and processing at the 2009 Nuffield Winter Conference on October 30-31.
The shield honours the best presentation at the conference, which this year featured 27 different papers.
Gresty, who runs his own vegetable agronomy consultancy in Lancashire, has been studying vegetable innovation and processing for the last 18 months as part of his Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust award, supported and sponsored by the Horticultural Development Company. His particular interest is in prepared vegetables and new product development.
As part of his Nuffield award, Gresty travelled to the US, Mexico, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, studying new techniques for growing and retailing vegetables as well as examining production efficiencies and labour-saving strategies in vegetable processing.
He said: “I have been amazed at the attention to detail of some of the biggest producers in the world and how innovation plays such an important part in their business. The convenience market is growing at a phenomenal rate and consumers just want to buy new and interesting vegetables that are healthy and easy to use.
"However, they must demonstrate value for money to ensure repeat purchases. Snack packs are such a fantastic way of encouraging children to eat their recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and I predict that the market will develop further over the coming years.’’
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