After two years in her role, Helen Kirkham, a member of the Made in Lancashire (MIL) team, has seen the organisation help a great deal of fresh produce businesses, from growers to suppliers. With the aid of funding from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWRDA) and the Lancashire Rural Recovery Action Plan (LRRAP), MIL has been offering active support to food producers since 2002. FPJ talks to Kirkham about MIL’s work with fresh produce businesses in Lancashire and the organisation’s uncertain future
What was MIL’s main objective when it was formed?
MIL was formed by Myerscough College in Preston and funded initially through the NRWDA as a result of the foot-and-mouth scare, because it was a time when small businesses needed support and advice. MIL wanted to be part of the whole recovery. Above all it wanted to be an organisation that was approachable and trusted.
What role does the organisation play?
We support small- and medium-sized food-producing businesses in Lancashire. MIL helps these businesses to develop into new markets and supply chains. It runs regular workshops and seminars, and a member of the MIL team will happily spend time with a business to create an action plan to enable it to develop. Recently, MIL has made contact with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and together we are going to assist local businesses in achieving an accreditation, which will enable them to trade with supermarkets.
Are Lancashire growers keen to supply supermarkets?
I must say that local growers are usually anti-supermarket. However, Tesco has recently started a new local-sourcing initiative, which seems very positive, so things may change. What I find is that when producers are small, they do not want to run the risk of supplying a large supermarket. A small producer can’t risk putting time and money into packaging and labelling its produce for a supermarket when the goods could be rejected. The small producer has to be one step ahead and expect the unexpected.
How would you measure MIL’s success?
Our membership has increased by 25 per cent in the last year. MIL is now a recognised brand and people want the logo on their produce. Both the farmers’ markets that MIL assists and the producer events have been a massive success. Producer events are arranged to enable small businesses to meet and form partnerships with suppliers for retail and foodservice. Producers have their own stalls where they can display their goods and buyers can come and see the stock.
How has MIL helped fresh produce businesses in particular?
About 10 per cent of the businesses we deal with are part of the fresh produce industry. Due to the volume of fruit and vegetable imports coming into the country, many of the businesses that used to thrive in Lancashire, like the greenhouse farms in Blackpool, have now closed down.
The industry is changing quickly and the best way forward for small growers is to consolidate their efforts. MIL has helped many fresh produce businesses in this way.
For example, one of MIL’s members, Richard Alker, who is a local chilli pepper grower in Blackpool, wanted to expand his business but did not have the means. We introduced Alker to David Atkinson, owner of Birchwood Nurseries, which produces tomatoes, who was looking to sell his business and retire, but couldn’t find a buyer. The two growers decided to collaborate, with Atkins taking a backseat in the business and Alker pushing it forward. Neither of the businesses could have gone anywhere on their own and these people would have never met without MIL.
We also do smaller things like arranging for a professional photographer to visit farmers who may not necessarily be able to afford that service and are having trouble promoting their produce.
MIL promotes local events that small food producers can gain from, such as the annual Northwest Fine Food Awards. It is all about encouraging producers to believe in their produce and push it forward. Local growers, and food producers in general, need to go that step further in today’s competitive climate. Branding is important; they can’t just stand behind a dirty table anymore. Marketing is crucial.
After five years of success, what does the future hold for Made In Lancashire?
MIL is going really well, and more and more businesses are getting involved all the time, but the organisation only has confirmed funding until April 2008.
Lancashire is one of the richest food-producing industries in England, so it really would be a shame if MIL, which has helped so many businesses and has so much more to do, just ceased to exist. A new organisation has been formed called Food Northwest, which aims to group together all of the local food organisations, including MIL. This partnership is still in its early stages and will continue, but where MIL will stand as a separate entity after 2008 is unknown.
WAREING IT WELL WITH FARMERS’ MARKETS
Clive and Debbie Wareing have owned Johnson’s Farm for 12 years and produce 40 different types of vegetables on 30 acres of grade-one soil in Tarleton.
Established 100 years ago by Clive Wareing’s great grandfather, Johnson’s Farm originally sold its produce at the Preston wholesale market, but when that shut down 10 years ago, Clive and Debbie Wareing considered the cost of a new site to be a false economy. Instead, they put their efforts into supplying their local greengrocers. Today, Johnson’s Farm works with a couple of small greengrocers, but the local farmers’ markets are where it does the majority of its business. “Eating patterns have changed,” says Clive Wareing. “And as they have changed, we have followed them.”
Johnson’s Farm has been involved with Made In Lancashire (MIL) since the organisation’s inception. “Another farm nearby was involved with MIL and we heard about it through word of mouth,” explains Debbie Wareing. “From the promotional side, it is a very good idea and it certainly draws the customers in. I don’t think the farmers’ markets would be doing as well as they are now, if it wasn’t for MIL’s input.”
Johnson’s Farm grows in rotation within each field as opposed to large commercial farmers, who grow in bulk. Lines of vegetables are planted one week followed by more the next, so that there is a steady supply of crops for each farmers’ market, of which Johnson’s Farm attends 12 a month.
“Our main aim with the farmers’ markets is to provide a large enough variety of stock to keep the customers coming back,” says Clive Wareing. “We have a niche in unusual vegetables that you may not be able to find in your local greengrocer, like fennel and celeriac.
“We can get a more realistic price for produce at the farmers’ market, rather than with the supermarkets or wholesale,” he added. “We are in the business for the love of the job, but we do have a family to keep.”
ASHCROFT’S CAULIS BETTER OFF WITH BOOTHS
Worthington’s Farm, based in Tarleton, Preston, grows vegetables for wholesale, Booths supermarkets and catering establishments in the North West.
The majority of the cauliflower and Savoy cabbage grown on the farm is supplied to Booths, as well as a range of “just dug” Wilja potatoes and washed and pre-packed purple sprouting broccoli. The remainder of Worthington’s Farm’s produce, including yellow, candy and red beetroot, is sold to wholesale markets, local supplier Sharrocks, and the restaurant Northcote Manor.
“We grow a smaller cauliflower exclusively for Northcote Manor, which provides good publicity as the restaurant specialises in using local fresh produce and features the individual growers it buys from in the menu,” says owner Peter Ascroft.
Ascroft is the third generation of cauliflower growers to run the farm and, with his wife and business partner Rosalind, has gone against the monoculture trend and stuck to growing a variety of crops in rotation on more than 200 acres of land.
“We run everything from this site,” says Ascroft. “We pack cauliflower in the fields and purple sprouting broccoli and carrots are washed and packed on site. We also peel and pack potatoes here in the winter for the foodservice industry.”
Ascroft has found that supplying large supermarkets is too competitive and has seen businesses in his line of work close down because they cannot keep up with demands.
But supplying North West-based Booths is a different matter for Ascroft. “With Booths you deal with people; I can still pick up the phone and talk to a Mr Booth,” he says. “A plc is locked into its shareholders and they just want to make money. All the growers are losing money because of the supermarkets and their bidding wars. It’s ruthless.”
NEW BOOTHS STORE FOR LYTHAM
A new £10 million Booths store is due to open in Lytham in September. The store will include an up-market Artisan restaurant dedicated to local Lancashire produce and headed by executive chef, Preston-born Simon Gornall.
Britain’s oldest family-owned and run grocery business celebrates 160 years of successful trading in the north of England this month, and still remains at the forefront of the country’s food retail industry.
In the past year alone, Booths has achieved an impressive second place in the list of the World’s Greatest Food Retailers in a vote by 2,000 industry experts, beating all its British competitors including Harrods, Fortnum & Masons and Waitrose.
Booths’ commitment to regional food is key to its success, selling more than 700 regional products with 100 per cent local fresh meat from its four heartland counties of Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire.
“As the fifth generation of the Booth family to run the business, we’re proud to be the region’s leading retailer. We’re confident that our continued success is down to our commitment to sourcing the best-quality local produce and delivering a friendly, personal service for the region we love,” says Edwin Booth, Booths’ chairman. “We’re lucky to have a dedicated team that has helped us to get where we are today and we look forward to welcoming a growing number of loyal customers to our stores across the region in the future.”
Booths was established 160 years ago in Blackpool, Lancashire, by Edwin Henry Booth.Over the years, the leading regional retailer has spread its wings and operates a total of 25 stores across the region, with an annual turnover of £230 million and a workforce of more than 3,000.
RIBBLE ROUSES LOCALS
Fruit and vegetable wholesaler to the catering trade, Ribble Farm Fare Ltd, is based in Longridge and works with many local growers. A family business, Roger Coulston has been working at the company’s depot for 20 years and has seen a good deal of change in the region. “What customers want now is value-added lines,” he says.
With 900 customers and 25 vehicles, this is a busy enterprise. As well as local produce, the company sources produce from all over the UK and abroad. “We’ve got Lincolnshire broccoli, asparagus from Hereford and carrots from the Netherlands in at the moment,” said Coulston. “Quality is important to our customers. Unfortunately, issues like price and quality usually come above seasonality and locality with the companies we serve.”
Ribble Farm Fare employs 20 staff to prepare the produce before it goes out to its customers, and has just invested more than £100,000 in packaging equipment.
Richard Coulston, who established the business 42 years ago and is now retired, says: “We used to work for a major supermarket, but now we are not so dependent on one customer. It was a deliberate action to move away from trading with supermarkets because of the demands that they make.
“We try to deal with local growers, but to get the demanded quality and a regular supply of a constant quality without imports is impossible.”
TO THE MANOR, LOCAL FOOD
It is widely acknowledged in the Lancashire area that there is a true emphasis on using local produce at Northcote Manor. Joint proprietors Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft run the restaurant with the aim of providing their visitors with an authentic taste of Lancashire.
Situated on the Ribble Valley, Haworth firmly believes in sourcing the freshest produce locally and works closely with many producers and growers to enhance his menus. This close relationship gives Haworth the opportunity to find willing partners to grow unusual products that are not readily available and to experiment in the cultivation of innovative and traditional products. Haworth maintains that food that has been grown locally, and is in season, tastes better.
Northcote Manor also offers 14 double bedrooms and completes a guest’s visit with its famous Lancashire breakfast.
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