If only the Scandinavian Reefer had been carrying a few containers of Pink Lady apples on deck, we could have had the perfect story this week.

I’m not complaining - and thank heavens there were no casualties apart from a multi-million pound boat - but couldn’t the PR heads have organised just that one more little ironic twist?

For the crew of a boat sponsored by the apple industry to be rescued by the crew of a much bigger boat carrying bananas - the fruit that displaced apples at the top of the consumer preference tree - is just too cruel.

I doubt very much that anyone involved in the Pink Lady business, from grower to retailer, is worried in the slightest, though.

The freak wave that crushed the boat just short of its destination and a world record time has created a tide of publicity throughout the land - the type of international multi-media exposure that money simply cannot buy.

Richard Branson, the self-made master of the calamity PR game must be mightily impressed.

• That food price inflation is running behind background inflation is not news to this industry. And the major concern that arises from the IGD report is not that the multiple domination of the food industry is slowing - it is what the major supermarkets will need to do to get it back.

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