I've just got off the plane back from Orlando, where the Produce Marketing Association has staged a record-breaking conference and exhibition. More than 16,000 national and international industry leaders attended. Very few will have gone home disappointed.

In fact, the vast majority will have returned to their companies refreshed and armed with a host of new contacts and ideas, which might just make the difference for their business in the next 12 months ñ and beyond.

It is frustrating, as ever, to report the ever-apparent lack of interest in such gatherings from the UK. There were, of course, delegates from these shores, but while the precise figure has not been released yet, the number of British accents on the exhibition floor was depressingly low.

We are an island, both it would seem as a country and still, as an industry. We have an industry, particularly at retail and retail supply level, that believes itself to be at the top of the world league. But how many leaders of the past are now languishing because they thought they knew it all?

The one UK retailer I met in Florida ñ which will remain nameless ñ was on the lookout for new concepts and ideas. By the end of the event, its two representatives had furnished themselves with more than 20 separate innovations to stimulate their shelves. If only a handful prove successful, the outlay will be a drop in the ocean.

As retailers demand more of their suppliers than ever, it is international events such as these that can give a supplier the edge. Whether it is a new source, a new product or variety, or a revolutionary merchandising concept, the few days out of the office would be entirely worthwhile.

I'll be going again next year. Will you?

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