Flagship event attracts over 250 senior industry figures to Spalding in Lincolnshire
FPJ’s flagship annual conference and exhibition Festival of Fresh took place on Thursday 5 June in Spalding, Lincolnshire, welcoming over 250 industry figures to discuss the biggest challenges facing the country’s fresh produce business.
The event was hosted by FreshLinc and included tours of Worldwide Fruit’s state-of-the-art packhouse, while a heavyweight conference programme saw leading names from across the industry tackling a series of hot topics.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the NFU, described the last few months as “a whirlwind” during the opening discussion. “When speaking to growers, the biggest topic that comes up is inheritance tax,” he said. “If you are impacted by this, it risks the very future of your business.”
Bradshaw bemoaned the government’s phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive and funding for producer organisations, as well as the hike to national insurance contributions for employers.
To the suggestion by Nationwide Produce’s Tim O’Malley that the government appeared to be treating the farming industry with “contempt”, Bradshaw insisted that the NFU’s relationship with Defra was positive and laid the blame largely with the previous Conservative government. “However, I can’t say I understand how we get a thriving economy off the back of this,” he conceded.
Addressing labour pains
On a panel discussion on seasonal labour, Shayne Tyler of TylerBladon Practical Ethics stressed the importance of the seasonal labour scheme to avoid exploitation of temporary workers.
“That scheme creates the stability that you must have within a labour force to help prevent exploitation,” he said. “On the ground, I find that things are far worse outside of the seasonal worker scheme than within it.”
“The vast majority of people are treated well,” added John Shropshire, chairman of G’s, “but the small number that are not is a big problem for us and for the image of the industry. If we can get membership of the Modern Slavery Intelligence Network up and share information about exploitation across the industry, it would be a really effective way of stamping this out of our industry.”
Concerning the Employer Pays Principle (EPP), which would see growers fund the transport and visa fees of overseas farm workers, Shropshire said the idea was “flawed”.
“The industry will have to pass the costs on,” he said. “I think the whole idea is completely flawed. I’m aware that in Australia they have this, but the Australian government works closely with the government in Fiji and everyone comes through that network so they know what it’s going to cost to bring them in.
“Whereas we’re actually recruiting people into the seasonal worker scheme from worldwide, and how you monitor the correct amount of money to pay for all the travel and logistics is so open to fraud.”
Tackling the key topics
Further sessions focused on the continued growth potential for avocados in the UK market, the current retail landscape, and the future of the country’s wholesale markets, as well as technology and sustainability.
Attendees were taken on a tour of Worldwide Fruit’s packhouse, which included a look at the company’s Softripe ripening system for avocados.
Head of technical at Worldwide Fruit, Willie Wood, spoke of the importance of reducing the waste caused by destructive testing, which costs the business over £150,000 a year in lost potential earnings, and the company’s use of technologies from Apeel, Agrofresh and Sunforest to address the issue.
“The point is to remove the lost yield and put it back in the supply chain,” said Wood. “I always say we’re only as good as the people who work for us. But we’re also only as good as the technology that we deploy and how we use that technology and data to drive our decision making.”
Further reports on Festival of Fresh 25 will be published on fpj.co.uk over the coming days
