Having spent the weekend in the Isle of Wight, I’ve come back with the view that there are still opportunities being missed by sectors in this industry - even though the level of promotional activity is now far higher than it perhaps has ever been.

Who would have thought in the dim and distant past, for example, that this chalk-rimmed island the other side of the Solent would have become the focus for a Garlic Festival now held each year, which attracts thousands of people?

Its added value, apart from creating tangible sales benefits, has been to raise consumer recognition of both home-grown and imported product - garlic of course was once, and maybe still is, believed by many to be something that was the sole domain of French cuisine.

There have, of course, been other events on a more modest scale. As a cub reporter I was sent off to the Leeds and District Rhubarb Show, which was viewed as an event for which public interest stretched far beyond the fabled Wakefield Triangle.

Several years on, crops as diverse as tomatoes, herbs and chillies have been the centre of attention at the Henry Doubleday Foundation and attracted good audiences.

There has been a British sprout week, which put down its roots at Chipping Camden, and an excellent “Cornfest” in Hampshire. English watercress and asparagus have also proved to be naturals, although their impact has been more localised.

But on a larger scale, this week there is the National Fruit Show, primarily focussed on growers and the trade. Continuing with the theme, I have never understood why it has not followed a wider path.

It may be a simple case of location, but I do hope the sending of the show exhibits to RHS Wisely in Surrey this year, in parallel with the garden’s own Apple Day, might be the start of organisers aspiring to something bigger.

In fact when it comes to growing sales through marketing, there are lessons to be learnt from the multiples. A case in point is just coming up on the calendar as Halloween draws near. Not long ago, pumpkins were virtually non-existent outside the farm shop environment.

Now they briefly and profitably hold an important slot on the retail promotional calendar. As early as last week, as part of the build up to the October 31 celebration, dump bins were being trundled into position, not just in produce departments, but in entrances and forecourts.

Product availability ranges in size from being almost as large as Cinderella’s mythical coach after midnight, to a mini size that doubles as a table decoration. The product ranges in colour from white, through orange, red and burnt umber, in a palette that would not look out of place on a paint sample card.

One non-multiple route to extending the reach of domestic product is perhaps the adoption of the best farmers’ markets as the platform to sell and demonstrate the capability of English horticulture, at least in the summer and autumn. By publicising more national product days with a regional link, the industry could not only give itself a pat on the back, but also play its part in boosting consumption.

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