Nobody can kid themselves that this is a great time for the industry. The plights of Sussex Mushrooms, Eurodix, Agrexco and others make that abundantly clear.
For a while, it seemed the food production sector might be able to escape with fewer bruises than others, but in recent months it’s become clear that it’s suffering just like the rest. Much like the wider global economy, fruit and vegetable producers and suppliers are having to battle to stay afloat and hope that profits start to improve once this difficult period is over.
What’s encouraging, therefore, is the steps that continue to be taken to turn things around. Earlier this year, we heard that the cauliflower sector was on its knees, with poor weather, disappointing sales and an image as perhaps the least sexy vegetable.
Yet now Clements has come up with a range of orange, green and pink cauliflowers in Tesco (p6), a range that could well appeal to children as well as the traditional shopper, while the grape category - perhaps rather unkindly referred to as the “most boring” in fresh produce (p10) - has a raft of innovative and colourful new varieties coming through that should help get sales moving.
The one thing we can all cling to is that everyone needs food, everyone knows they should be eating healthily, and most people are a sucker for an exciting new product - especially one that might get their kids eating better.
There are some real success stories in fresh produce, and there will undoubtedly continue to be so.
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