Proof positive that the horticulture industry is still moving into fewer and larger hands is exemplified by several of the headlines in this week’s issue.

The most notable are the plans on the Thanet to create a massive new site to grow salad crops as a result of a link between Fresca and major players in the Netherlands.

This area of Kent can claim to be part of glasshouse history even before the time when nurseries started being designed to emulate the Crystal Palace. Prior to the arrival of VHB, I remember one of the first nurseries in the area was bought at a UK auction. I happened to be in the local pub at Wingham on another story when the purchaser, Dick van der Wurf, came through the door and caused such a stir that the normally reticent locals asked what he was going to produce and who would buy it.

They were duly amazed when he said the tomato crop had already been contracted to a major supermarket even before the plants were in the ground. One must assume today that the same rules apply - particularly as the cost of putting up 91 acres must be astronomic.

It has been a busy week in other respects, with my diary recording trips to Tozer Seeds’ vegetable trials and Hargreaves Plants’ seminar on the potential for blackberries. At first glance, unrelated events but, in fact, all bound by a single thread.

Be it breeding or commercial growing, the industry is now far closer together than ever before. This is because of the realisation that the customer is not only naturally concerned with taste, but also because of the need to spread the right messages concerning the use and control of pesticides, care for the environment and even the manner in which labour is employed.

Some aspects, such as breeding new varieties, may take time - for example Tozer’s new strains of brassicas, salads and root crops that were on display at Cobham. But marketing groups and retail technologists are being consulted for their opinions even at this early stage.

Further down the line, there is the continuing introduction to the UK of larger and better-tasting berry fruit. Internationally, blackberries are being lifted to a far higher status. The days of being seen as a humble fruit gathered from the hedgerows are long gone, simply because of customer satisfaction.

In more mature markets, such as that of tomatoes, there is a higher level of market penetration because of the options for salad, beefsteak, cherry, and vine, as well as the numerous specialities that are on display 52 weeks of the year.

And finally, this week at the coal face, it is good to see that there are other success stories. The English apple season has got off to a rousing start and probably can claim more column inches or sight and sound minutes than for many years.

It may not always be a case of “the more we are together”, but I do get the sense that the industry is now rowing in the same direction, even if there will always be different reasons for jumping in the boat.

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