Welsh growers, processors and retailers have been urged to be more collaboratively minded in order to create an effective and efficient supply chain.
The call came from Alun Davies the deputy minister for agriculture, food, fisheries and European programmes at the Welsh Assembly as he opened the Horticulture Wales Conference.
He said the Welsh government wanted to support an industry, which is profitable and is able to deliver long-term prosperity for individual businesses and for Wales. Change, he said, should be seen as an opportunity not a threat.
Professor of strategic marketing Martin Hingley from Lincoln University called upon Welsh growers to work together with other parties along the supply chain. He said: “The horticultural industry needs to engage with the supply chain and see it as a network, where horizontal collaboration is just as important as vertical. However, in the UK, we’re not as collaboratively minded as other countries where co-operations between growers are a lot more common. By not acting collectively, opportunities to supply new markets whether retailers or consumers directly are being missed, which means losing out on potential sales.”
The call for collaborative working is in line with the hopes of Horticulture Wales project director David Skydmore, who said: “Many of the opportunities the project has identified can be best met if producers work together and collaborate with other businesses in the supply chain such as garden centres or food manufacturers.
"There is demand for Welsh produce and products but producers need to co-operate to supply the volumes required by potential customers. Horticultural production is very important to Wales and Wales is proud of its industry.”
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