The FPC Annual Dinner at the Savoy with guest nation the Dominican Republic was a resounding success, with a full house again this year. It has become the not-to-be-missed event on the industry calendar and we were delighted to see so many friends from the UK and overseas as we joined together to celebrate trade between the UK and the Dominican Republic.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved and all those who attended for contributing to this outstanding evening and in particular, our sponsors The British Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Association of Exporters, LINKFresh and Anglia Business Solutions. It was lovely to meet the new Anglia chairman John Caine and the new Master of the Worshipful Company of Fruiters, Professor John Price.

We very much appreciated the personal and international support of our guest of honour HE Dr Federico Cuello Camilo, ambassador of the Dominican Republic, and his Dominican delegation was outstanding. UK-Dominican networking at the lunch forum proved greatly beneficial and an informed exchange of information identifying trading opportunities between our nations was well received. Headline UK speakers included Fresh Direct’s Nigel Harris, CGMA’s Jan Lloyd, Delifresh’s Noel Kershaw, Morrisons’ Andy Garton and Fesa’s Justin Szymborski. The Dominican DTI equivalent responded and a basis for developing Anglo-Dominican trade was formed.

It was fabulous to have such a strong presence from the wholesale markets, from Bradford St James, New Spitalfields and a large New Covent Garden Market contingent including Portas, Zest and Sophie Hannah, who was responsible for the most outstanding floral displays. It was lovely to see new market authority chairman Pam Alexander – New Covent Garden is a great FPC member and also hosting a Dominican delegation this week.

We look forward to working with our Dominican Republic partners on the forthcoming UK trade mission and we will be advertising this in the next few weeks. If you currently trade with or are interested in trading with the Dominican Republic, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Don’t you just love the unions! It’s a shame Unite protestors didn’t do their homework or they might have given their comments more thought – the fact that FPC works extremely hard promoting the industry to increase business for the UK and overseas producers, which leads to increased trade and employment within our sector. Positive comments may not make headlines but misinformation is unacceptable on every level, not least I suspect for those who pay their union subs.

We were delighted to host HE João de Vallera, ambassador of Portugal and Jamaican deputy high commissioner Diedre Mills at this year’s event. Both countries are popular contenders to be future guest nations. Save the date – the 68th FPC Annual Dinner is already booked for 1 February 2014.