Sopexa this week celebrated its 40th anniversary of promoting French food and wine to UK consumers.

Guest buyers, wholesalers, importers and journalists were treated to a tasting of 40 different cheeses and wines and witnessed Sopexa UK's Catherine Manac'h receiving the Officier du Mérite Agricole distinction bestowed by the French government and presented by the Sopexa board of directors.

Manac'h has clocked up 36 years service to the Sopexa cause in the UK. She is pictured with colleagues, including Sopexa chairman Dominique Chardon, far left.

Research commissioned by Sopexa to co-incide with its 40th anniversary celebrations, and carried out by HI Europe, shows that 39 per cent of UK consumers still closely associate Golden Delicious apples with France.

Fruit and vegetables continue to play an increasing role in exports to the UK, having risen from 59.6 million euros in 1975 to 524.6m euros in 2002.

While fruit value rose from 45.4m euros to 206.2m euros in this period, vegetables are now in fact the bigger sector, rising from 14.2m euros to 318.4m euros.

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