Bringing together fresh produce heavyweight Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire and encompassing three major wholesale markets, the East Midlands is a fresh produce power to be reckoned with.
However, the region experiences a multitude of challenges to accompany the many advantages that a tradition of fruit and vegetable production brings.
The climate is changing the way that growers farm and the products they grow, water use is becoming a priority, small businesses are finding routes to market hard in some of the more rural parts of the region and large companies are finding that consolidation is the only way forward. Nevertheless, the region is home to many forward-thinking companies that are set to take the East Midlands onto the next stage for horticulture, its distribution and sustainability as a whole.
Weathering change
The major issue on everyone’s lips, not just in the East Midlands but throughout the country, is the winter cauliflower debate. After three disastrous winters and continuous losses on the winter brassica crop, growers in Lincolnshire are beginning to think that the climate is hinting that another product would be better in cauliflower’s place.
Lincolnshire-based Peter Davis of fresh produce supplier Davis (Louth) Ltd says it’s been a poor British season for brassicas in general. “The changes in the weather have brought a huge disruption to the cauliflower crop in this area,” he says. “White cabbage, which is a big export, has been returned because it has been black in the middle.
“More money has to be spent on developing plants with weather and disease resistance, so that they can deal with the long periods of frost. There has been a huge change in temperature, with long periods of -3°C to -5°C at night, which the area isn’t used to historically. In between Christmas and New Year, we had 12 days of minus temperatures to deal with. Cauliflowers have been freezing in the fields and then they go to mush. Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and Savoy cabbage were all a disaster at Christmas time and the industry had to import to satisfy supermarket contacts at huge cost.”
Davis believes that the way the supermarkets treat the supply chain will see an end to food security in this country. He encourages growers not to get involved with “suicide selling”, when companies supply product to supermarkets at below cost price. “It’s not just the price of growing, it’s the logistics, packaging, distribution and waste costs,” he adds. “It is frightening the amount of money that is lost.
“There have been cutbacks in North Lincolnshire and the land drainage that was on the cards has been delayed - in my opinion - indefinitely. This country is a real mess; the government is trying to push the reigns, but we are all going to have to flip the balance or we will be reliant on imports.”
Over in Nottinghamshire, the carrot industry has found that a move can be as good as a break, with new crops in the area. Carrot grower Freshgro’s md Martin Evans has found that Newark has been perfect for carrot production, although the crop is new to the area. “Nottingham was a new area to horticulture, as historically production was around Redhill, but there is a belt of sand in Nottingham around Doncaster, where the ground is made up of sand, then limestone, then coal. As a result, there is an underground reservoir, which relieves the pressure for us as, for example, it takes one glass of water to grow a Chantenay carrot.”
Carrots were planted in Nottinghamshire just over 20 years ago and Evans says that the discovery of the county’s potential shows that the UK has to be independent with resources and adapt with climate change. “We are moulding horticulture for the future,” he says. “The climate is critical to carrot production as we harvest 52 weeks of the year and the process has got to be operational. Growing cereals is becoming more and more attractive to the fresh produce industry and it might make more money. The costs are creeping up in fresh produce production because of water and other climate-controlled issues.”
Established relations
But a long history of working together throughout the supply chain is holding the East Midlands in good stead ahead of the many climatic and economic situations that loom. At Leicester Wholesale Fruit Market, all 33 units are full thanks to Total Produce investing in the site.
“After 30 years here, I love it,” says Total Produce’s Gary LePrex, who started as a porter on the market at 17, after visiting the market regularly for his parent’s fruit and vegetable stall on Leicester Retail Market. “I’m really lucky after all these years to still get a buzz out of it. The produce available then was as simple as oranges and apples, but now the industry has exploded and it’s so interesting to see the new items come in. Globe artichokes have done very well in the last three years from hardly any sales and items like dragonfruit and papayas are very popular.”
Leicester’s Total Produce delivers approximately 30 per cent of what it sells, but LePrex maintains that the market still sees a good deal of hustle and bustle from independent retailers and chefs coming to choose their foodstuffs.
Young blood
And the line is continuing, albeit in a different guise. Harry Loweth, third generation Lincolnshire grower of Abbey Parks, decided to come out of the London rat race and join forces with his father a year ago to set up a new catering supply business on Nottingham Wholesale Market, mainly supplying the vegetables grown on the farm, in season.
Geography graduate Loweth spent two years in advertising sales before heading home with plans of expansion for the business. The new facility at the Nottingham site has been open for five months and serves around 200 businesses. As well as fresh produce, the business’s core lines include dairy and bakery products.
“We do concentrate on Lincolnshire produce where we can, but we obviously need to continue the offer out of season,” says Loweth. “Lincolnshire food has got a really big following and it would be lovely to deliver just seasonal lines, but small businesses need to be ahead of the game and Lincolnshire produce can be lean in the winter months.”
However, Loweth does believe that British seasonality should be respected and preserved and is concerned by the multiples’ sale of British asparagus in the extended season. “People need to be educated as to how the products are viewed, as we do not want niche products to become commodities,” he adds.
Not content with starting up a new wholesale pitch, the Loweths are now embarking on a whole new project, called IGrow. Set to launch in April, Abbey Parks Gardens is introducing an allotment scheme that consumers can rent and the farm will tender. The allotments will hold whatever the customer wants to grow and they will be informed when they can pick up their harvest.
When asked why he thought the fresh produce industry had managed to recruit so few of the younger generation, he says that the education system is at fault. “If it wasn’t for my family business, I wouldn’t have a clue about the industry,” he admits. “The major downfall as a whole is the education in schools. Most young people are totally unaware of the basics, although with the rise of the supermarkets there has been more of an awareness of the jobs available.”
Improving routes to market
But some growers, especially the smaller businesses or those that have diversified, are finding that they have plateaued. Arable farmer David Pridgeon of Pridgeon Farms started to grow soft fruit five years ago to indulge in a particular interest of his, alongside the family farm’s 450ha of corn and wheat crops, and this has turned into a thriving pick-your-own and farmshop/farmgate sales business, that Pridgeon admits has kept the farm above hot water at times.
“It’s a family farm, but the soft fruit side of it is really my baby,” explains the farmer, who has 5ha of strawberries and raspberries and to a lesser extent gooseberries, blueberries, blackberries and redcurrants. “It has been so much more rewarding than the hobby I set out for it to be though. Financially, we have had a few lean years as arable farmers, but the soft fruit now covers a quarter of our income. It has kept us going.”
The only problem is that based in Skegness on the outskirts of Lincolnshire, Pridgeon feels that his routes to market are limited to selling at the farmgate, through pick-your-own and a few caterers. “We would like to think it is possible to expand, but profitability is hindered by distribution to market,” he adds. “If we produced any more of a quantity, we would have to go further than local distribution. Our next step will be to start supplying a co-operative that supplies small supermarkets. We have seen small growers go out of business because they haven’t had the support of a larger group.”
Help is at hand though, with one of the most successful regional development agencies Select Lincolnshire at the county’s growers’ fingertips. The Select Lincolnshire project, funded by Lincolnshire County Council, was set up in 2005 in response to a government drive to ensure UK farming has a sustainable future and is in line with DEFRA’s aim to create a sustainable, modern, diverse and adaptable farming industry. Working with all kinds of food groups, fresh produce is an area that Select Lincolnshire’s Jill McCarthy believes is one of the most diverse and innovative, although connections need to be made. The programme organises Meet the Buyer and Meet the Chef events and is working with Pridgeon to find other avenues to the end consumer.
“Local growth is very limited in this area, as we are isolated by farmland to a large extent,” Pridgeon continues. “We have production for six to eight weeks of the year, with 20 strawberry varieties to continue the season and get a lot of help from Select Lincolnshire, but we really are small fry and sometimes the market outside local feels beyond our limits.”
Investment
There’s strength in numbers and that analogy rings true for Swedish-owned potted herb producer Lincolnshire Herbs, which has sister companies in Sweden, Poland, Belgium and Portugal. Based in Bourne, one of the largest potted herb producers in the UK has benefited from a team of experts spanning four countries and sustainable financial backing.
“Without the backing of a large company it would be very hard to invest in the industry,” says Patrick Bastow, managing director of the Lincolnshire site. “We have a £35 million pot to share as a group and are the biggest producer of potted herbs in the world. Lincolnshire is the best place to be if you can invest; it’s good for planning permission, the land is cheaper than most areas in the country and labour is not a problem.”
Lincolnshire Herbs has just started construction work on a new mechanised packhouse and the foundations were in place at the time of FPJ’s visit to Bourne. As well as the advantage of a group of companies behind it, Lincolnshire Herbs has gained the support of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) in the way of a £400,000 grant for the new facility, which will cost £1.4m in total.
“We can afford to continue to invest and we are at stage one of the packhouse, which in itself will reduce energy costs and make the business more efficient,” says Bastow. “It can be hard in the industry if you don’t have financial backing and we are very lucky to have the companies we do behind us.”
To register for the FPJ East Midlands conference in Lincoln on 17 March, visit www.fpjconferences.com.
FRESH START FOR SPALDING-BASED ENTREPRENEUR
After six years’ experience of sales and management in the potted herb industry, Jenny van Gemeren identified a gap in the market and decided to set up her own business, JVG Herbs Ltd.
Our target customer base was UK retailers that were benefiting from the credit crunch. Fortunately, because of the ability to invest personally instead of relying on finance from banks, we were able to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, for example the recycled irrigation system, the germination chamber and the vacuum drum seeding line, which gives greater uniformity of seed coverage on every pot produced. This has helped to produce a high-quality product at an economically efficient level that has been key to the success seen so far.
Setting up a new business involves a lot of hard work and determination but it has all been worth it. Cash flow can be tight especially over the winter months, with the extra heating costs.
The company has seen excellent growth on its core range with all of its retail customers over the past two years and has developed a new product aimed more towards the horticultural industry: a grow-your-own, six-pack herb garden offer. We are also looking at chilli plants in pots as a complement to the traditional culinary range.
Our mission is to provide a safe, quality product in an environment-friendly process. We heat the glasshouse using a 500kw biomass wood chip boiler, which has halved heating costs and been especially useful considering this winter’s dramatic oil price rises. We aim to be our customers’ first choice for fresh herbs and to provide the best service possible. The development and motivation of our staff is also a key objective.
Spalding is famous for fresh produce and I believe it is becoming the kitchen of England. It is an ideal location to supply national supermarkets due to the superb haulage networks in the area and highly skilled labour is also relatively easy to find in the East Midlands. However, a more economical route to market for low volume suppliers would make it easier to serve the smaller retailers. There is huge potential in working with the independent and convenience retailers, but full pallet rates can often be a hurdle too big to jump.
No comments yet