Food to thought

摘要

As always, the Tomato Growers'Association annual conference sponsored by Cambridge HOK, provided attendees with significant food for thought, None more so than the paper given by Jolin Giles, Divisional Director of Promar Intemational's Consulting Division, The title of his paper was: 'Who will supply the UK tomato market in the future - and why?' John began by asking the question as to whether the public really cared where their food came from. He felt that on the whole, the answer was that they didn't. He highlighted the fact that a very high proportion of the tomatoes consumed in this country were imported. The UK tomato market was worth some 645million pound with a significant amount of imports coming from both the Netherlands and Spain. The Netherlands alone brings 400,000 tons of tomatoes into the UK every year. The Dutch, like Spain - and to a lesser extent Poland and North Africa - find the UK market very attractive. "It was," said John, "a sobering thought that the area of tomatoes planted in the UK had declined by 50% during the last twenty years."