7
F
News
F
T
h
eNFU
h
as appointed a newhead of Food and Fa
r
ming to
lead its food c
h
ain and commodit
y
a
r
eas.
P
h
ilipham
b
ling joins t
h
eNFU inmid-Ap
r
il at a c
r
ucial time fo
r
t
h
e commodit
y b
oa
r
ds. T
h
e
y
face twin c
h
allenges;
r
esponding
tob
r
exit and esta
b
lis
h
ing food and fa
r
ming’s sustaina
b
le
r
ecove
ry
f
r
omdep
r
essedma
r
kets. he
br
ingswit
h
h
im
invalua
b
le expe
r
ience f
r
om va
r
ious
r
oles t
hr
oug
h
out t
h
e food
indust
ry
andDef
r
a. Cu
rr
entl
y
h
e is Senio
r
Ag
r
icultu
r
eManage
r
at Sains
b
u
ry
’s. his p
r
evious posts includeG
r
oupAg
r
icultu
r
e&
P
r
ocu
r
ementManage
r
at randall Pa
r
ke
r
Foods and Food
Polic
y
Manage
r
at t
h
eb
r
itis
h
Meat P
r
ocesso
r
s Association.
On
h
is
r
ole at t
h
eNFU, M
r
ham
b
ling said: “T
h
eNFU
h
as a
h
ugel
y
impo
r
tant and influential
r
ole topla
y
in t
h
e
development of ag
r
icultu
r
e and food c
h
ains at t
h
is time of
significant c
h
allenge andpotential oppo
r
tunit
y
fo
r
UK
p
r
oduce
r
s. I pa
r
ticula
r
l
y
look fo
r
wa
r
d towo
r
kingwit
h
t
h
e
NFU’s commodit
y b
oa
r
ds, offe
r
ingm
y
expe
r
ience of wo
r
king
inGove
r
nment, aswell aswit
h
polic
y
make
r
s inside and
outside comme
r
cial value c
h
ains, to
h
elp us s
h
ape and
captu
r
e t
h
e
b
est of t
h
ose oppo
r
tunities fo
r
UK fa
r
me
r
s and
g
r
owe
r
s”.
M
r
ham
b
ling
r
eplaces P
h
il bicknell, w
h
o left t
h
eNFU in
Decem
b
e
r
last
y
ea
r
to join t
h
eAg
r
icultu
r
e andho
r
ticultu
r
e
Development boa
r
d.
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •
FEbrUAry 2017
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
NFU appoints newHead of Food and Farming
Thatchers to headline sponsor at Royal Bath&West Show
Al
r
ead
y
a longstanding suppo
r
te
r
of t
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&West
S
h
ow, T
h
atc
h
e
r
sCide
r
is to
b
ecome
h
eadline sponso
r
of t
h
is
West Count
ry
institution.
T
h
e
b
iggest cele
br
ation of
r
u
r
al life inEngland, t
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&West S
h
ow takes place ove
r
fou
r
da
y
s (f
r
om31Ma
y
to 3 June
in 2017) making it t
h
e count
ry
’s onl
y
fou
r
-da
y
ag
r
icultu
r
al s
h
ow.
regula
r
l
y
att
r
acting ove
r
135,000 visito
r
s, t
h
eS
h
ow keeps
ag
r
icultu
r
e at its
h
ea
r
t, wit
h
4,500 livestock, s
h
eep s
h
ea
r
ing,
mac
h
ine
ry
and tec
h
nolog
y
att
r
actions. Ente
r
tainment
r
anges
f
r
om top-class s
h
ow jumping to t
h
e g
r
andpa
r
ade of p
r
ize-
winning animals.
Food andd
r
ink a
r
e also in t
h
e spotlig
h
t, wit
h
t
h
eb
r
itis
h
Cide
r
C
h
ampions
h
ips
h
osted in t
h
e famousO
r
c
h
a
r
ds andCide
r
Tent,
alongside t
h
e annual b
r
itis
h
C
h
eeseAwa
r
ds. Ove
r
125 food
p
r
oduce
r
swill t
h
is
y
ea
r b
e offe
r
ing visito
r
s some of t
h
e ve
ry
finest food andd
r
ink inb
r
itain.
T
h
atc
h
e
r
s
h
as
b
een associated in va
r
iouswa
y
swit
h
t
h
ero
y
al
bat
h
&West S
h
ow fo
r
man
y
y
ea
r
s, most
r
ecentl
y
as sponso
r
of
t
h
e s
h
ow’sO
r
c
h
a
r
d andCide
r
Section, and suppo
r
ting t
h
e
awa
r
d fo
r
best Cide
r
O
r
c
h
a
r
d. T
h
i
r
dgene
r
ation cide
r
make
r
Jo
h
n
T
h
atc
h
e
r
, a past
r
ecipient of t
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&West of England
Societ
y
’s p
r
estigiousGoldMedal, is a
r
egula
r
judge of t
h
eCide
r
andO
r
c
h
a
r
dsCompetition.
Ma
r
tin T
h
atc
h
e
r
, fou
r
t
h
gene
r
ation of t
h
eSome
r
set
cide
r
making famil
y
, w
h
o is also a t
r
ustee of t
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&
West Societ
y
, sa
y
s, “T
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&West S
h
ow is a
r
eal icon
of
r
u
r
al life
h
e
r
e in t
h
eWest Count
ry
. Not onl
y
t
h
at, it is t
h
e
h
ig
h
lig
h
t of t
h
e ag
r
icultu
r
al calenda
r
fo
r
t
h
ose involved inman
y
aspects of t
h
e indust
ry
f
r
om all ove
r
t
h
e count
ry
and as suc
h
h
elps to
r
aise t
h
e p
r
ofile of ou
r
r
egion. I
r
emem
b
e
r
visiting t
h
e
s
h
owwit
h
m
y
fat
h
e
r
and g
r
andfat
h
e
r
w
h
en I was a
b
o
y
, and it
still
h
olds a g
r
eat fascination fo
r
me. It’s t
h
e
r
efo
r
e an eas
y
decision fo
r
us to
b
ecomemo
r
e involved.
“At T
h
atc
h
e
r
swe unde
r
stand
h
ow impo
r
tant it is tomaintain
t
h
e values of ou
r
r
u
r
al communit
y
and to suppo
r
t, inw
h
ateve
r
wa
y
we can, t
h
osew
h
o live andwo
r
kwit
h
in it. T
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&
West S
h
ow
h
as done a fantastic jo
b
as a s
h
owcase fo
r
t
h
eWest
Count
ry
since it was fi
r
st esta
b
lis
h
ed in 1852.We’
r
e delig
h
ted
and
h
onou
r
ed to
b
ecomemo
r
e closel
y
involved t
hr
oug
h
t
h
is
new sponso
r
s
h
ip.”
rupe
r
t Cox, C
h
ief Executive of t
h
ero
y
al bat
h
&West of
EnglandSociet
y
adds, “I amdelig
h
ted t
h
at T
h
atc
h
e
r
sCide
r
h
as
b
ecome a
h
eadline sponso
r
at t
h
e 2017ro
y
al bat
h
&West
S
h
ow as it is fitting t
h
at ou
r
two long-esta
b
lis
h
edSome
r
set
iconic
br
ands a
r
e nowwo
r
king toget
h
e
r
.
T
h
atc
h
e
r
s’ cont
r
i
b
ution to t
h
e
r
ise in inte
r
est in cide
r
cannot
b
e unde
r
estimated andMa
r
tin’s ent
h
usiasm fo
r
cide
r
and t
h
e
cide
r
indust
ry
is unstinting. Itmakes logical sense fo
r
suc
h
a
b
usiness to sponso
r
ou
r
S
h
ow,
b
eing t
h
e
h
ome of t
h
eb
r
itis
h
Cide
r
C
h
ampions
h
ips and t
h
eb
r
itis
h
C
h
eeseAwa
r
ds - two
g
r
eat p
r
oducts known glo
b
all
y
as
b
eingquintessentiall
y
‘Some
r
set’.We look fo
r
wa
r
d to a long
r
elations
h
ipwit
h
T
h
atc
h
e
r
sCide
r
and t
h
e T
h
atc
h
e
r
famil
y
.”
T
h
is
y
ea
r
T
h
atc
h
e
r
swill
b
e
h
osting its cide
r b
a
r
in t
h
e
Spa
r
kfo
r
dbuilding andwill continue its suppo
r
t of t
h
eO
r
c
h
a
r
ds
andCide
r
Tent.
