The UK Environment Secretary has been giving encouraging news to the Conservative party conference about food exports. She said that almost 600 new markets had been opened overseas, adding that exports had increased by more than £1 billion in the last four years.
One of the export successes has been selling Yorkshire tea to China:
She told delegates: “We are producing more varieties of cheese than the French. And we are selling tea to China – Yorkshire tea…
At the moment, we import two-thirds of all of our apples. We import nine-tenths of all of our pears. We import two-thirds of our cheese. That is a disgrace.