The British grocery supply chain needs to think long-term and move away from transactional deals if growers are to become more sustainable, the agricultural director of Produce World has said.
Andrew Burgess was speaking at event held by Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) in London.
He said: “Sustainable means that something can continue forever. In order to do that we need to achieve the right balance with nature, but we also need people to be happy and for the financial rewards to be right.
“All of these things are woven together. In order to do that we must move the grocery supply chain model to much more collaborative relationships and a greater degree of long-term thinking, and away from transactional deals, which I believe threaten the sustainability of British growing.”
Andrew said working with LEAF increased Produce World’s understanding of the wider farming environment and influenced the way that it worked both on its own farms and on the farms that it sources from.
“I believe that LEAF was a huge catalyst in helping us grow the business from £25m to £180m over the ten years between 1997 and 2007. LEAF gave us the confidence to sell the benefits of environmentally-friendly farming practices to our customers.
The event also saw regius professor of botany at the university of Cambridge, Professor Sir David Baulcombe, urging farmers to embrace new agronomy and plant genetics.
He said progressive methods were crucial in order to sustainably meet the food requirements of a world population expected to grow to 9 billion within the next 30 years.
No comments yet