Cornish vegetable producer Southern England Farms (SEF) has been awarded a direct contract by Tesco to become a primary supplier of vegetables to the UK’s number one supermarket chain.
The company has supplied Tesco through third parties in the 10 years since being set up by Greville Richards, with its main lines of cauliflower, cabbage and greens, but the direct relationship takes SEF into a new era.
SEF grows on 4,000 acres in Cornwall and works with 40 other growers in the county, who between them farm a further 3,000a. The biggest vegetable producer in Cornwall, the firm has added broccoli and courgettes to its product portfolio and moved into summer production to complement its traditional winter brassica business.
As a result of growth this year and the Tesco contract, SEF has begun recruiting three to five new management staff, with technical director Alasdair MacLennan and commercial director Jon Bellamy already on board. Around 30 full-time field operatives will also be recruited.
Work is beginning on a 60,000 square foot packhouse, which will quadruple the packing capacity of SEF, and allow further growth and new business to be accommodated.
Richards told FPJ the deal is a real boost for Cornish horticulture. “This is a vote of confidence from Tesco in SEF and Cornish growers, and it should mean more acres of crops being grown in Cornwall,” he said.
“While supermarkets often get a bad press, this is a good news story of a supermarket supporting Cornish agriculture.
“Tesco appears very keen to take UK-grown product where available and Cornwall is of strategic importance due to the fact that we can grow certain brassicas for 12 months a year, unlike elsewhere in the UK. We are also able to stretch the UK seasons of crops such as pointed cabbage, courgettes and broccoli through starting earlier and finishing later than other areas.”
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