How do you think your experience with Sainsbury’s has helped you on the market?

I think it has helped me build a rapport with some of the market traders; it is all about chatting to people on the market and gaining their respect - the knowledge I have gained of the supermarket sector has definitely helped that. The quality of detail and research available when you work for a supermarket is excellent and your knowledge of what the consumer wants and needs is good, which helps your overall understanding of the supply chain and its pitfalls.

What were your initial goals and projects?

The big thing is simply getting the traders more business, and also the growers. Some of the growers have relied too much on their supermarket clients and in some cases can have almost 85 per cent of their business with them. When they are being hammered on price, it makes more sense to balance financial risk and therefore look to other lucrative routes to market, like NCGM. But it is also important for growers to ensure a consistent supply to the market. We have been doing a lot of buyers’ tours, talking to key organisations about provenance and working with the Guild of Fine Foods to target independent retailers as fresh produce can make up to 23 per cent of a store’s turnover if you get it right.

How do you think Food from Britain helped the UK’s image internationally?

Putting UK food on the worldwide stage at events in Dubai, New York and all over the world has been fantastic for regional food across the UK. Our Meet the Buyer events were very successful in increasing prospects for jobs and the economy in various regions and educating people about food, which chefs in the media have also done a great deal for. The diversity of food in the UK, be it in supermarkets, smaller, artisan shops or restaurants is second to none.

The battle is to get the consumer to realise that cheap food is not the way forward and to understand the true value of food. We need to stop people thinking it is a privileged, middle-class thing to consume good, local food and cook from scratch.

You have worked extensively with marketing; how do you think the industry could improve its work in this field?

This is where we can work with trade organisations extensively. We have to hit the key, old-school seasonality messages of the likes of the asparagus and strawberry seasons and also traditional food events such as the Harvest Festival. It is really important that the whole industry works on marketing good-quality fresh British produce wherever possible and the more support we get from the high street and the chains, the stronger the message will be.

One really easy thing that growers can do is to work on improving their packaging; I know it’s an increasing cost to them, but it will allow product to be sold at a better price. It is the biggest single criticism that the wholesalers have for the growers and it is a fantastic opportunity. Growers can make their product look better and shout British where relevant, and that is often simple to implement.

What are your long-term goals at NCGM?

One thing that is very important to the market is that we support the market economics that the secondary wholesaler buys from the primary wholesaler and keeps the market trading. Otherwise, the market just becomes a big distribution hub and it has established itself too well for that to happen.

Obviously, with the proposed new redevelopment, we wait to see what the market will become but we have plenty of space and energy to diversify so we welcome other categories such as bakery and dairy - ultimately, we would like the market to be a one-stop shop to increase trade and be more viable. There is enough business to go around in London so expansion would not hit the other markets.

What other projects have you been working on?

We are about to start some great work with growers in the Isle of Wight, working with local street markets on sourcing from NCGM and working on more grower and buyer tours. We have talked to the Carbon Trust to help our traders become more environment-friendly. And we are working with Wandsworth Council on its Go Green project - all the trader needs to do is show six months of bills and they can look at things like lighting, heating and transport, and look at where to save. We have also been working on backloading; in my view, no lorry should make a journey empty - it can be both a financial and environmental benefit to all parties involved.

A lot of the work we do is about wading through the bureaucracy on the traders’ behalves. They are very experienced and perceptive people and you have to earn your stripes and work hard to bring benefits to them and the market as a whole.

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