At the Council Meeting in May I was re-appointed as president of the Fresh Produce Consortium for the forthcoming year and I am very pleased to say that Michael Velasco was re-appointed as vice president.

Michael had been re-elected chairman of the importers division, while Jim Rogers was elected vice chairman of the division and as such has become a member of Council. The wholesale division has re-elected Brian Daykin as chairman and it is expected that the position of vice chairman will be filled at the next wholesale meeting.

The participation of our members in the divisions is vital for the FPC to represent the industry effectively. I wish to thank those members who attend regularly and I would like to commend these meetings to others. Your attendance would be welcomed and I am sure you would find the content interesting and of value to your business.

During the last year several members have participated in working groups giving their expertise to critical matters affecting the whole industry. This is how we work at our best in shaping regulations so that they result in the least adverse impact and I wish to thank those members for their input at those groups.

Our major challenge at this time is to take maximum benefit for fresh produce within the government's 5 A DAY initiative to bring healthy and nutritious food to the consumers and reduce obesity throughout the UK. There is no doubt that this presents us with an opportunity not seen before and we must make full use of it.

We raised this at the Re:fresh Conference last month and sought reaction to the concept of a cross-industry promotion and PR campaign. We were encouraged by the positive reaction this met and by the feedback that we have had since. We are progressing this idea and will be consulting with a cross-section of industry leaders very shortly. From these we hope to present a campaign to the industry in the near future.

Funding has always been a key issue for such a campaign and no doubt this will be a significant challenge. The potential to increase consumption significantly is right before us and therefore an investment in such sales growth is surely a good commercial decision. I trust there will be a clear realisation of this, which will reflect in strong support for the campaign. We need to demonstrate that value in our produce is much more than just low prices. It is about sheer pleasure in flavours and colour, indulgence, lifestyle, a 'cool' way to drive fitness and energy.

That's value and, as such, the lowest price should not be the main emphasis in driving sales. I am sure we have another challenging year ahead but one with so much potential to bring benefit to our consumers and through this to all members of the Fresh Produce Consortium.