Participating in the debate on the sustainability of UK horticulture, Balicki said to customers in the audience: 'If we [British producers] are considered to be irrelevant in this global market, we should be told that. Then we could re-arrange our businesses accordingly.

'Do not pay lip-service to British horticulture and leave us high and dry without sustainable resources.' Turning to the final link in the chain, and responding to earlier comment that local produce is desired by the UK consumer, he added: 'There is a latent preference for home-grown produce - but I don't feel the consumer is actually searching for it. Not many will pay for the identical product at a higher price and if the product is too cheap, consumers will see it as being undervalued.' He also argued that this situation will not change unless general quality standards are raised. 'How often do you see British produce labeled as British, yet not looking as good as imported produce?' Local supply, he said, needs strong definition. 'There is a big issue of availability. If [as one speaker said at Hort in Focus] we want people to eat 10 pieces of fruit or vegetables a day, we would have a very hard time providing that all from the UK. Bananas and oranges have to play a part too.' He said that the UK supply chain lacked cohesion, and suffered from having too many marketing desks and non-profit representative bodies. 'There are more than 50 non-commercial organisations representing British horticulture,' he said. 'Why?' Balicki's presentation continued: 'The supermarkets are almost the only serious market now and nothing makes me believe that will change. We need to understand them, their future requirements and changes. Their technical requirements... leave us chasing the holy grail of safe food. Traditionally we have produced safe food and we are often being led down a merry road on single issues.' Balicki stressed that cost-cutting measures needed to be based on equitable gain. 'We need our customers businesses to grow so that we can grow, but when costs are being taken out of the supply chain, it must be on a win-win basis,' he said.

'Promotions for instance only appear to be price driven. If for every BOGOF the net return to the primary producers is not more than half, that does not take into account that the cost for each package remains constant. I believe that it is the amount of shelf space given to a product on cut-price promotion that increases sales, not the price.' Investment in the future is essential, he continued. 'The key is generation of sufficient funds for this industry to grow. We need better facilities and we need to mechanise many of the jobs in the packhouse.' Within that investment is product development, which Balicki said was too often being carried out by third parties with little input from the primary producer. The producer, he stressed, needs to become more involved.

Specifically about Worldwide Fruit, he said: 'When we set up WWF, many questioned the decision to become involved in 12-month supply. It is only through constant communication and working very closely with our customers [on a year-round basis] that we will end up with a sustainable industry.'

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