British growers and producers could benefit from over £200 million of new contracts in the public sector, following a new buying standard launched today.
The new food and drink buying critera, entitled ‘The Plan for Public Procurement’, will encourage and support the wider public sector to serve more locally sourced fruit, vegetables and meats through local suppliers.
Public sector buyers will now judge potential suppliers against five criteria: how food is produced and whether it was produced locally; the nutritional content of food; the resource efficiency of production; how far the food meets government’s socio-economic priorities such as involvement of SMEs; quality of service and value for money.
Suppliers will also benefit from a new online portal, where companies that register and meet the requirements are automatically alerted when any eligible contracts come up for tender. They can then apply for the contracts online.
The news forms part of today’s announcement by Prime Minister David Cameron and newly-appointed environment secretary Liz Truss, that they will spend £400m on the food industry, as part of a long-term drive to boost British businesses.
The government said British farmers are expected to benefit significantly from the plan because they are best placed to meet the new standards, which prioritise procurement from smaller producers to help them gain access to the lucrative public sector market.
Cameron said: “Our long-term economic plan is all about backing the do-ers and the hard-workers – and no one does more or works as hard in Britain today than our farmers.
“By opening up these contracts, we can help them create more jobs, invest in their businesses and make sure people in our country have a healthier lifestyle.”
NFU deputy president Minette Batters said the plan was a significant step in the right direction to government backing British farming.
“We applaud the work that Dr Peter Bonfield has done to develop a new architecture for public sector procurement that aims to put more British food on public sector plates. That aim, to grow the amount of locally sourced food and drink, chimes with our own wider aspiration of growing the British farming industry,” she said.
“I really look forward to working with the new secretary of state not only on this procurement plan but also how we build a strategic plan for growing British agriculture.
“Of course saying that more British food is sourced to our standards of production is one thing; to ensure that this happens on the ground, it’s important that public sector buyers and caterers know that they can easily meet the plans aims by simply sourcing food to Red Tractor standards, the widely recognised mark of British food production standards.”
Truss said the investment is a huge boost to Britain’s farmers and producers. “It will help drive growth in Britain’s food and drink industry and benefit the environment through reduced waste, higher take up of meals and less unappetising food left on plates,” she said.
The ‘Plan for Public Procurement’ follows Dr Peter Bonfield’s review into public produce procurement. Bonfield said: “I want this work to change how every public institution views the food it buys – we have had a great deal of support from schools, hospitals, businesses, caterers, and farmers, all keen to be a part of this exciting new approach.”
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