The French fresh produce industry calls it Strategic Segmentation. The objective is to give consumers the right produce at the right time in the right place.

In other words, the industry has been committed for two years to trying to find new ways to add value to their production in what is a grim market.

The industry as a whole has discovered that consumers want different kinds of quality: a standard quality mostly based on price, an assured quality recording producers' efforts on traceability and an exclusive top of the range offer.

These requirements have obliged the industry to think about different means of distribution and buying criteria. Efforts have been focused on three fruits ñ apples, strawberries and peaches ñ and four vegetables ñ tomatoes, leeks, cauliflowers, and chicory.

Some might say that this extremely ambitious project has not got very far to date. They are saying it loudly enough to push the French industry body to act. It recently reoriented the programme to make it clearer and easier to understand.

Because the main approach made is to return to the good old days of high levels of centralisation within the market, it is not fair to judge the validity of strategic segmentation yet. But it is clear that all the members of the big French fruit and vegetable family must take part in the process and that no-one can be left aside.