Day 101 - 10 Mar 95 - Page 17

     
     1        A.  There were two suppliers ---
     2
     3   Q.   What was the other one?
     4        A.  -- until -- a company called Acre Produce, and pretty
     5        much, I think, after I joined the company they changed to a
     6        single supplier.
     7
     8   Q.   Where were they based, Acre Produce, were they Norfolk?
     9        A.  No, they were actually based in the City of London.
    10
    11   Q.   What, their plant?
    12        A.  Yes.
    13
    14   Q.   What was the reason for distinguishing that supplier?
    15        A.  Well, I think the growth of McDonald's was such that we
    16        needed a supplier to invest very heavily to keep up with
    17        our demand, and it did not make sense to run two sources of
    18        supply and have two investments.  So, the decision was made
    19        to switch all the volume to one supplier and for them to
    20        invest in the future of the business.  It was a commercial
         decision, basically.
    22
    23   Q.   So what would Howard Long's investment be?
    24
    25   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, what does that mean?
    26
    27   MR. MORRIS:  I do not know.  You said that.  What do you mean?
    28        A.  They had to invest in upgrading the processing line to
    29        cope with the volume of demand that McDonald's were putting
    30        on them, so it was quite a significant investment.  I do
    31        not have the details of the costs and such forth, but it
    32        meant putting in a complete new line, new processing
    33        equipment and so on, new packing equipment.
    34
    35   Q.   How does one ensure that lettuces from as far away as
    36        Australia would remain in the kind of quality which you
    37        claim to present in your food?
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How are they preserved?
    40
    MR. MORRIS:  How do you ensure -----
    42        A.  The only method of preservation is temperature control.
    43
    44   Q.   That is the only method you know of that can preserve
    45        lettuce?
    46        A.  Well, yes.  It is the only method that we employ to
    47        preserve the quality of the lettuce is to control the
    48        temperature.
    49
    50   Q.   Yes, but we are talking about Howard Long who brings it in, 
    51        say, for example, from Australia? 
    52        A.  The product has been brought in in the past from 
    53        Australia.  It is not a regular occurrence, but the only
    54        control you have over the quality of that product is
    55        maintaining strict temperature controls.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you have an allegation, I suggest you put
    58        it.
    59
    60   MR. MORRIS:  Are you aware of a government survey last -- do you