Lighter evenings and snowdrops popping in the garden always bring a great feeling of anticipation – England are on track for the Six Nations grand slam, Cambridge to win the boat race, the Australian F1 grand prix and the possibility of a long, hot summer!

On the produce front we will watch the race to get the first asparagus to market, the first new potatoes, forced rhubarb and the first strawberries as UK growers find ways to extend the seasons and provide the items we love for longer.

China is calling – you may remember we headed a trade mission last June. Well, we have an invitation from the Weihai Municipal Bureau of Commerce to return in June to attend the 4th China Weihai International Food Expo. So if you currently trade or are interested in trading with China, give us a call at the office for further details.

There will also be a trip to the Dominican Republic in late May – details are currently being confirmed and we will let you know as soon as we do so look out for information in the coming weeks.

Re:fresh 2013 will be announced in the next week or so. Thank you for your interest and your patience – we are planning a spectacular event with a few changes and taking it to another level, so look out for details coming very soon.

We’ll be launching some new awards categories with an interactive slant, and I can confirm that to present them, back by popular request, we have celebrity chef and star of Saturday Kitchen, James Martin. We are really excited about the new concepts and we hope you are too – it’s great to have FPC vice-president and CEO of Fresh Direct, Nigel Harris, working closely with the Re:fresh team this year. I have no doubt this 10th Re:fresh will be spectacular, so make sure you save the date.

We are delighted to see a notable increase in membership in the last couple of months – a great start to the new year with many new members on board, which is greatly encouraging as we move on into the spring challenging the FSA, Plant Health and the EU Commission on your behalf.

Many of you have been working closely with us on a variety of issues affecting your businesses, and we look forward to renewed collaboration in the coming weeks and months.

I look forward to catching up with many of you at the spring Technical Group Meeting in March and to discussing the latest developments on ‘high risk’, citrus black spot and DP among other agenda items.

This is a truly significant group from a wide range of businesses that meets three times a year, ably chaired by Jim Jefcoate of IPL, for some serious networking and meaningful discussion, and it continues to grow – an absolute must for technical members. Together we can, and do, make a difference! —