Has the wheel really been reinvented?

Every so often in the fresh produce industry, events get to a point where it feels like the reinvention of the wheel. Amid much trumpeting, the Brussels bureaucrats have relaxed the original EU grading regulations, which theoretically will give consumers a better deal and, at the same time, reduce the tonnes of fruit and vegetables being dumped purely because they did not conform in shape and size.

In the corridors of power, this has probably been viewed as a shrewd move in the light of the economic climate. Eventually, however, it may prove to be little more than window dressing.

The previous legislation often generated public criticism, along with some humour, stretching back to the days of butter mountains and wine lakes. Reports running alongside this of apples, stonefruit, citrus and salads being dumped because they did not make the grade - although in reality it was often a case of overproduction - raised the same levels of consumer emotion.

But here, perhaps, is the dichotomy. Has the basic EU concept since the community came into being now been overtaken by a different set of circumstances? Is it because in most member countries, the multiples control the bulk of sales and, in effect, operate their own quality standards? Each supermarket has its own individual disciplinary requirements, which are laid down in manuals that are available in virtually every major audited packhouse. Similar to the EU requirements, these cover external appearance but, more recently, have extended to the internal quality of crops based on laid-down maturity standards.

As a result, despite the cries from a vociferous minority, shoppers are so used to buying blemish-free, perfectly shaped produce that it is questionable whether they will want to change their habits. And will supermarkets really want to sell anything below their own standards? They may take the view that, by doing so, they could be in danger of losing market share.

The other theoretical poser is whether the new legislation will strengthen the position of the once traditional channels of distribution, such as the wholesale markets. Will it allow them to revert to the time, for example, when “crooks and bents” were an accepted part of sales in the cucumber trade? Reading the reports from the recent World Union of Wholesale Markets’ Retail Conference, the sector’s optimism is high in the belief that this conduit still fulfils a valuable function. This surely must be based on the assumption that, beyond supplying the needs of the foodservice industry, there are sufficient small shopkeepers left on the planet to benefit from this new EU bounty.

Will our burgeoning farmers’ markets also gain from the windfall? The UK might be a special case, but I doubt it. After all, this pattern of trade is just following what is already practised on the continent, which seems to operate entirely within its own rules.

Personal experience, reinforced by visits from my friends across the Channel and beyond, indicates that our European counterparts have operated the way nature intended for aeons.

There has already been praise that common sense has prevailed, but, in reality, little will have changed.