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November
2002
A leading Nottinghamshire farmer is calling for a major shake-up
in the way the farming industry sells and markets its food.
David Rose believes that the chain between farmers and consumers
has broken down, and that there are now too many groups representing
the farm retail sector. This is diluting their effectiveness
at a time when the agricultural industry is in crisis.
He is suggesting the launch of a single specialist food umbrella
group to reconnect the chain and to give British farming a future.
"Farmers and producers do not want the industry to survive
on handouts and charity, becoming totally reliant on sponsorship
from others," he claims. "They want the industry to
be self-sustaining, and for profitable business to reinvest.
They want to increase the health and well-being of UK consumers,
while at the same time, reconnecting the supply chain with a
learning experience from which everyone could benefit."
David, who farms at Car Colston, near Bingham, adds: "For
too long UK farming has been product, not market, focussed,
and consequently the farmer has lost touch with the consumer.
UK farming must now concentrate on reconnecting with the food
industry and ultimately the consumer. To achieve reconnection,
farmers must think as a consumer and develop their products
accordingly."
David is calling for a single specialist food umbrella group
- Food from Britain - to promote the top quality food we produce
in this country. Working alongside this should be an educational
organisation, a lobbying organisation such as the National Farmers'
Union, and a commercial business to take British farming through
the 21st Century and beyond.
Drawing from his experience, he suggests the commercial business
could be known as the Wholesome Food Company and it would provide
fresh, healthy, fully-traceable local food that can be trusted.
"Its customers will be the consumer, retailers and processors,"
he explains. "This will be a national business that will
only buy from UK farms that meet its strict criteria. It will
produce a full range of products and will aggressively market
them across all market sectors."
David, who was awarded the National Farmers' Union Entrepreneur
of the Year Award in 2000, spends around 15% of his time as
a director of Farmeco UK Ltd - a group of three farms, one of
which he owns, that are farmed collaboratively with one set
of machinery and labour.
The rest of his time is devoted to Farmshop
Home Delivery - a business he founded two years ago to supply
locally produced food to local people in Nottinghamshire and
Leicestershire. It now has a customer base of almost 1,000,
and the service has just expanded to provide convenient meals
based on local ingredients to pubs, restaurants, cafes and farmshops
in the area.
"The farmshop specials range
is a prime example of what I am suggesting should be the way
forward for farming," explains David. "We've taken
food that is local, farm fresh and responsibly-produced, and
created meals that can be delivered direct to local outlets,
like pubs and restaurants. Customers will be able to trust the
quality of the meal they are buying because they will know that
the meat is all farm-assured and that the rest of the ingredients
have been produced by people who care about the environment
and the product they are supplying. They can also be confident
that the food hasn't travelled hundreds of miles before it reaches
their plate."
The venture has received funding from the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs, East Midlands Development Agency and
the Countryside Agency.
David's conclusions follow a year spent as a Nuffield Trust
scholar - an award given to 20 members of the farming and food
industry annually to scrutinise worldwide farming practices
and report their findings. His comments come in a preliminary
report to the Nuffield Trust.
He claims: "The plethora of organisations representing
the farm retail sector is diluting their overall effectiveness
and confusing the consumer. These organisations have different
local, regional and central objectives, and mix political lobby
with commercial enterprise. Consequently the perception is often
that the farm retail sector is fragmented, unfocussed and self-serving.
"I'm arguing for the consolidation, alignment and fundamental
reform of the intermediaries into key specialist organisations
that represent producers and the regional food economy. It's
time producers took back their accountability for the representation
and distribution of their products to the consumer."
David believes that the public would back a commercial operation
that represented and united farmers and producers who were committed
to responsible food and meat production. The WFC idea would:
- Improve traceability of food
- Reduce the number of miles food travels
- Create a strong trustworthy brand
- Unite farmers behind a single entity
He suggests that funding for the idea could initially come from
the Government - just as the Curry Report into reconnecting
agriculture and the consumer advises - and venture capital,
but eventually it would become self-funding.
"The aim of WFC is to be a long-term sustainable company
that generates profit and is accountable to its shareholders
as well as the customers," he adds. "The business
will be commercially viable - it will not seek ongoing government
support or financial assistance from the industry."
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