Roque Garcia Simon, vice-president of growers association Hortyfruta, made a stand to reassure consumers of the quality and integrity of Andalusian fresh produce at Taste of London.
Despite being planned before the E. coli outbreak in Germany which damaged the reputation of Spanish produce, Hortyfruta viewed the consumer show as a good way of re-establishing the trust of British consumers for Andalusian fresh produce.
This is the first time that Hortyfruta has undertaken a sampling exercise of this kind and Garcia Simon said it was an "excellent opportunity" to restore consumers faith in Spanish products. More than 6,000 Andalusian honeydew and watermelons and 40,000 cocktail tomatoes were sampled over the four day event at the Regent’s Park last weekend.
A Hortyfruta spokesperson said: “Interestingly many were consumers were also asking about pesticide use and the event gave Hortyfruta the opportunity of explaining in detail how bio controls work.
“The event was beset by deluges of rain on some days but this did not appear to lessen the public’s enthusiasm, with many donning wellies and macs to carry on regardless. The organisers haven’t released official attendance figures yet but they have stated that there were record numbers to some of the sessions as people still attended to sample all the food and drink on offer.”
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