Tesco has congratulated its growers on their performance this season in improving quality, a situation which has led to less reliance on imports.
That was one of the key messages together with a host of new initiatives revealed at its annual conference and awards ceremony held at Leeds Castle in Kent last week.
The event drew together 74 growers who market through Norman Collett, which runs the event, Worldwide Fruit, Hochfeld and EWT, as well as Tesco's commercial and technical managers.
It has also become a major event in the English fruit calendar. Guest speakers, this year included Ben Gill, past president of the NFU, and now chairman of English Apples and Pears; Richard Hirst, his counterpart on the Horticultural Board; and Nuffield Scholar, Stuart Clark, who gave a presentation on how other apple industries are adapting to change.
When reviewing the wider picture of Tesco's own progress, senior buyer Martin de la Fuente even wondered if there could be an export market for British fruit in the Far East where there is a premium on traditional English products.
On home ground, he said there would be more compostable and degradable packaging materials entering the system. Last year Tesco recycled nine million carrier bags.
And it was good news for growers from the shop floor. There will be an increased level of UK product promotion including organics next season, with more images bringing farming to life for consumers. This will be backed by a greengrocer training programme for staff to support the concept of ‘eating in season.’
Meanwhile, research has shown Tesco customers want larger, tree ripened fruit with improved flavour
"Health is now the most important agenda going forward, with quality and choice the key components of giving customers what they want," added Shaun Doherty, responsible for benchmarking quality.
There will be a new initiative to source more locally grown apples, pears and cherries revealed Giles Gravatt, who is responsible for tasking a group of new local sourcing offices.
Regional buyers and technologists appointed this summer will be running a series of local road shows giving producers opportunities to introduce their products in smaller quantities in local shops.
Question time revealed that in store research in Kent had shown that that this appeal was so powerful that there were times when ‘British’ was less important than ‘Local’ - provided it was clearly identified.
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