Kent has long been regarded as the Garden of England and, by continuing to diversify and innovate, the county is considered a source of some of the finest British fresh produce. The push for regional sourcing has gained momentum this year and, with UK retailers looking to up their offer of local fresh produce as a key part of their regional offer, Produced in Kent has worked hand in hand with its producers and suppliers to raise the profile of Kentish fruit and vegetables.
The not-for-profit organisation is funded by Kent County Council, the South East England Development Agency and the South East Food Group Partnership.
“The aim is to support and promote Kent produce, in particular food, drink and allied sectors, in a way that sustains and enhances the county’s economy and rural character,” says business manager Stephanie Durling.
Producers, farmers, suppliers, retailers and other businesses either growing or manufacturing in Kent can all become members of the organisation. “We promote opportunities for these members to sell, cater and promote their product in a variety of ways through retail, wholesale, hospitality, and the public sector,” says Durling. “We also encourage members to work together and seek alternative outlets, such as the supermarkets and independent retailers, and make that next step to expand their businesses.”
Produced in Kent works to introduce retailers to fresh produce businesses who will be able to meet their supply needs. “We continue to seek other new retail and wholesale opportunities across Kent to enable the expansion of the local sourcing offering,” says Durling.
The food body has endeavoured to draw attention to locally sourced produce with its promotional initiatives. “We have attended local and national food events and local promotions, and used local radio and media, as well as running specific promotions highlighting identifiable local products,” Durling tells FPJ.
UK consumers are more aware of local sourcing than ever before and, according to Durling, this is starting to change the way they shop. “The message about buying local produce is gaining momentum daily,” she says. “In general, the public is much more interested and receptive to local sourcing, and buying locally when possible.”
The majority of shoppers are generally satisfied with buying British, Durling says, but she adds that Kentish fresh produce has an additional appeal in the area. “On the whole, consumers would prefer to buy Kentish produce, but in the supermarkets this is difficult to find, so buying British becomes the next best option,” she says.
Switching to locally sourced products is not without its obstacles. “The biggest difficulty is convenience, as most people still prefer to shop once a week in one location,” says Durling. “Time is of the essence, and it requires a shift in consumer attitude to get them to change the way they shop, as well as an increase in appropriate retail outlets.”
Produced in Kent has reached out to the consumer to raise awareness about local produce where it matters most. An initiative aimed specifically at the public - Friends of Produced in Kent - sees member consumers receive a quarterly newsletter and information about events and offers from member producers. “We also talk extensively to consumers at the various events we attend, such as the food market in Canterbury, which was held during the Tour de France, and the Kent Show, near Maidstone,” says Durling.
The organisation has produced a consumer brochure on seasonality, which is handed out at events, at many of the retail outlets of member producers, as well as at local schools, and is also available on the Produced in Kent website.
Durling admits it is difficult to measure the impact that a food group has made, but she says that the amount of communication and co-operation within the industry bodes well for the market for local produce. “The increasing number of businesses seeking our advice on local sourcing and the rising demand of local consumers is an indication that the local food message is succeeding,” she says.
The way forward for any food group is to maintain momentum, and there is no shortage in the events lined up by Produced in Kent. The first dedicated Kent Food & Drink Festival will be held in October 2007, in Canterbury, and the 2007 Taste of Kent Awards, which will encourage the public to vote for their favourite producers and local businesses, are also set to launch. The organisation will publish a producer directory and, according to Durling, there are always more events and publications in the pipeline.
For more information on Produced in Kent, or to find out how to become a member, visit www.producedinkent.co.uk, or call 01732 853170.
LOCAL FOOD ALLIANCE UP AND RUNNING
The Local Food Alliance (LFA) has put regional sourcing at the heart of its operation in the South East, which kicked off in Kent this week.
The Maidstone-based distribution hub will supply locally grown fruit and vegetables as well as speciality food products from Kent and its bordering counties and, according to business development manager Rob Weaver, fresh produce will drive the business. “The idea is to keep it local, with produce from Kent and bordering counties,” he says. “We are trying to cut down on food miles so that the product is as fresh as possible.”
The LFA subscribes to a robust motto - miles better, miles fresher - and aims to source the best produce in Kent. “The miles better, miles fresher aspect is so important,” says Weaver. “People want local fruit and vegetables, whether it’s from a supermarket, from a box scheme, or from a local store, and we can make this happen.”
The firm will supply both conventional and organic produce to customers within a 60-mile radius. The site features a 20,000sqm warehouse, full packing lines for strawberries and apples, grading equipment for top fruit and flow-wrapping machines, as well as facilities and vehicles for distribution.
Target markets will include Kent-based retailers and restaurants, both in rural and urban areas, as well as London markets and supermarkets.
“We would like to talk to growers, retailers, or anyone interested in local products,” says Weaver. “Everybody - both large and small producers - is welcome and we would like to meet as many local growers as possible. If they support us, we will find the best outlet for them - we can act as a voice for local growers, because we are passionate about local food.”
Demand for locally sourced food is on the up and, with UK retailers stepping up their regional focus, the market for products from Kent - as the Garden of England - is booming, according to Weaver. He managed Produced in Kent for 10 years and is well known to producers in the region.
The business has the potential to expand quickly, Weaver tells FPJ, but support from growers will help to take the initiative forward. “The intention is to extend the LFA across the South East, with different food hubs, but we can only do this with support from growers and, of course, retailers and consumers,” he adds.
For more information on the LFA contact Rob Weaver at kent@localfoodalliance.co.uk or on 07712136249.
BOXING IT UP AT ASDA
A box of fresh produce that will be made up of 10 lines sourced from Kent is to launch at Asda in September.
The UK number-two retailer is working with Kent-based producer Bank Farm Produce to source local fresh produce for the box scheme. The pilot will run in a small number of stores in the region.
The items featured in the box, which will include core lines such as potatoes, onions, and apples and pears, as well as the occasional line of soft fruit and stonefruit, will change every week, according to Doug Wanstall at Bank Farm Produce, but the price point will remain the same.
The boxes will be singled out in the fresh produce aisles with an emphasis on provenance. “The boxes will be labelled with the names of the producers and the names and locations of the farms where the fruit and vegetables were produced,” says Wanstall. All lines included in the box will be produced conventionally.
Asda has stepped up its commitment to sourcing local fresh produce in response to consumer demand, local marketing manager Mark Menzies tells FPJ. “Every time we ask people where we should go next with local sourcing, the answer is always produce - it’s the next natural progression,” he says. “Consumers are demanding local fruit and vegetables, and they will look around for them - we have had to respond to this and make it as easy as possible to buy local produce.”
TESCO TEACHES TOTS
Kent suppliers have teamed up with Tesco to help teach local children about where their food comes from as part of its Plough to Plate initiative.
St Nicholas Court Farms has worked with teachers at St Nicholas at Wade Primary School to show pupils how potatoes are grown and how they reach the dinner table.
The cross-curricular project, which traces the journey of spuds from the planting right through to the plate, is designed to provide a greater understanding of agriculture.
Pupils have grown the King Edward, Desiree, Maris Piper and Marfona varieties in tyres in the playground.
“The children have seen potatoes being planted, they visited a packhouse and went to see commercial harvesting, and will harvest their own potatoes this week,” their teacher David Hannan tells FPJ.
Graeme Skinner, technical manager at St Nicholas Court Farms, was on hand to talk to the children about planting, take them to the fields and get them involved in the harvesting process, then give them a tour of the packhouse.
The nine- and 10-year-olds will be harvesting their own potatoes, which they grew at school, this week.
“Most kids don’t have anything to do with food and projects like this really get them involved,” says Nick Tapp, managing director of St Nicholas Court Farms.
The children gave public presentations about their project in the Tesco tent at the Kent Show.
Norman Collett is set to educate pupils at Goudhurst Primary School, in Kent, about apple growing in the county.
The 12-month project will coincide with the Year of Food and Farming.
Pupils will start learning about top fruit at the start of term in September.
The school runs a topic-based curriculum and works around a different theme each year. The theme for next year, which will be used to teach all subjects for years five and six, including English, maths and science, will be apple growing in Kent.
The nine and 10-year-olds will be given the opportunity to visit orchards and a packhouse to see how the supply chain works.
“They will told about how apples are grown, quality standards, the difference between Class I and II, and they will also have the chance to cook together,” Sarah Calcutt, technical manager at Norman Collett, tells FPJ.
Tesco will provide seeds and compost, as well as teaching resources. âóè
RETAILER SPOTLIGHTS KENT IN STORE
Tesco reinforced its commitment to regional sourcing with a stand at the Kent Show, which kicked off on July 13, and link-ups with its Kent-based suppliers.
The supermarket giant appeared at the three-day consumer event, which attracts some 140,000 people each year, for the first time in five years.
The move coincided with the launch of a Tesco regional buying office for the South East, set to open this month, with a new regional buyer and marketing team for the area.
The local offer is a highly competitive area for retailers and, according to Quentin Sandell, Tesco senior buying manager for local sourcing in the South East, the retailer is pulling out all the stops to respond to consumer demand.
Tesco plans to have six regional UK buying offices that cover the South East, South West, the East, the Midlands, the North and Scotland. “Each office will have a buying manager, a technical manager, and a marketing manager,” says Sandell. “Putting staff outside head office to buy local products from suppliers for local stores is a big commitment from Tesco.”
Part of the responsibilities of the South East team will be to reinforce the local choice and promote fruit and vegetables and food from Kent. “The aim is to raise awareness about local Kent food and co-ordinate the sourcing and marketing of the products,” says Roy Maynard, a retired potato buyer for Tesco and now a consultant. “This will give Tesco a true local focus.”
The retailer has created Kent-themed sections in stores across the county, with local products identified within the categories that they would normally be found in - Kent potatoes with the other spuds, Kent strawberries singled out amongst the soft-fruit lines and Kent apples as a feature in the top-fruit aisle.
“We want to draw attention to local produce in stores and find new sources of local produce and foods,” says Maynard.
“We will follow the season round and continue to bring local produce into Tesco stores,” adds Sandell.
The appearance at the Kent Show formed part of the Tesco summer roadshow, which has made its way around the UK this spring and summer, starting in April and finishing this week. The aim is to appeal to small and medium-sized producers and give them the opportunity to get on board, according to Maynard, and he stresses that producers of all sizes can work with Tesco stores in their local area, starting out with a contract to supply just two or three stores before expanding in the second year.
Kent-based suppliers St Nicholas Court Farms, Norman Collett and Berry Gardens teamed up with Tesco to talk to consumers at the event about how they work with the retailer and about the produce they offer.
Kent consumers need to be given the opportunity to sample local produce and learn about how it is grown, according to Sarah Calcutt, technical manager at Norman Collett, and she says UK consumers are becoming increasingly discerning about what they buy and where it is from.
Norman Collett specialises in marketing English top fruit for 49 growers, including small- and medium-sized growers with some 30-40 acres as well those with hundreds of acres to their name, with 29 forming part of Mid Kent Growers.
The supplier is supporting the push for local sourcing with new procurement initiatives, Kent-themed packaging and the introduction of Kent areas in fresh produce categories in local Tesco stores.
UK consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about buying locally sourced food, according to Calcutt, and she says Norman Collett has undertaken market research to stay on top of consumer needs. “We have found that people either want to buy British for provenance, or they want to buy on price,” she says. “Most shoppers are satisfied by buying British produce, but a growing number of people want to have produce grown within 20 miles or less.
“Local produce is enjoying its day,” she adds. “Everyone is starting to think about where their food is coming from, and it’s brilliant and sensible that consumers are opting for local fresh produce.”
But Calcutt says UK consumers need to be taught more about seasonal eating. “It’s very easy to buy anything you like, 12 months of the year, but it can be very difficult to get the produce here,” she says. “But with more opportunities to learn about where your food has come from - photos of the growers on packs with the name and location of the farm, as well as information about the product - local produce has become very popular.”
Growers from Norman Collett will appear at the Tesco Pembury store on July 24 to mark the arrival of new-season Discovery apples on the shelves and talk to shoppers about how they are produced. “We have got some really great growers in Kent - some are more than willing to get out there and meet consumers - and they are based really close to the store,” says Calcutt. “The fruit will be picked and brought straight into the store.”
The apples will be marketed as a Kent product as well as part of the British offer. “Tesco is going for a more gentle image this year, more in keeping with the theme that locally grown fruit makes less of an impact on the environment, with unbleached paper and a natural look, to contrast the bright colours used last year,” says Calcutt. “But the Union Jacks will still be there, as will the Red Tractor symbol.”
The push to highlight provenance has raised the profile of Kent produce, according to Nick Tapp, managing director at Kent-based potato supplier St Nicholas Court Farms, and he says that labelling fruit and vegetables with details of who produced them and where they were grown makes the products more appealing to the consumer.
St Nicholas Court Farms started using its Locally Grown in Kent sticker in Tesco two years ago, starting with Kentish new potatoes and then moving on to other potato lines, as part of a wider push to highlight provenance.
The theme has since gathered momentum with the introduction of St Nicholas Court Farms-branded bags for Kentish white potatoes and Kentish Desiree lines in January.
“Tesco has put a lot of effort into local marketing to raise the profile of Kent produce for the general public,” says Tapp. “The level of interest and enthusiasm from them is fantastic.”
BRAKE-ING THE LOCAL MOULD
Heidi Easby, commercial director at Kent-based foodservice supplier Brakes, on why local sourcing is changing the catering trade.
Kent is the historical home of Brakes, which initially started in Lenham, near Ashford, in the late 1950s, and now employs more than 800 people in the county. The area has been a focus of investment, including the opening of a £20 million distribution centre in Aylesford in 2005, from which more than 60 lorries deliver Brakes products every day throughout the county and into London.
Kent is one of the key areas for Brakes as part of its regional and local sourcing initiatives. Last year, the firm launched a range of regional brochures highlighting products available to customers sourced from Kent and Sussex, featuring (when in season) cauliflowers, apples, corn on the cob and strawberries, as well as offering customers other Kent-sourced products such as cheeses, preserves and ready-made desserts.
The momentum has continued to grow for regionally and locally sourced foods. Brakes is a supporter of the Just Ask campaign, which focuses on the foodservice sector and encourages consumers to ask where their food comes from, and Brakes ceo Frank McKay attended the launch at 10 Downing Street in January.
Brakes and its fresh produce specialist business Pauleys are continually working with local suppliers in Kent and have recently launched a local sourcing initiative that saw Kent strawberries grown and packed by grower Andrew Boxall at Griffin Farm, near Maidstone, and delivered to caterers across the county via the Brakes distribution centre in Aylesford.
Brakes does not have shelves for customers to look at their produce, as a retailer has; therefore, a marketing campaign was implemented to promote the strawberries to customers. This has proven a great success, and we are now looking at potential opportunities with two other Kent producers with different seasonal crops.
We are also in discussion with two major customers with multiple sites about what opportunities there are for sourcing local produce from Kent for their establishments in the county.
But the continuing demand for local produce brings with it logistical challenges. Demands on quality still have to be met - we will not go local if the product does not meet our strict quality and technical standards - and we have to make sure that our supplier is able to cope with demand and maintain deliveries to our sites, ensuring we are able to deliver to our customers. Planning effectively and supporting with marketing campaigns means that local sourcing can bring benefits to everybody involved; the producer, Brakes, our customers and the consumer who has the pleasure of eating something grown not too far away.
For the caterer, it can add so much value to their menu - what would you find more enticing on a menu, “strawberries and cream” or “Kentish strawberries and cream”? A small change can make a real difference and the caterer can charge a little more for them.
The key to our initial launch has been working with a truly seasonal and iconic British product such as strawberries that, whilst we can buy them all year round, are associated with the coming of summer, Wimbledon, Ascot and Henley. When our customers in Kent could buy strawberries grown in Kent from the end of May it was reassuring to them.
In future, we will continue to look at working with suppliers to enable our customers to buy local produce for their establishments. We are aware of the potential environmental benefits of sourcing locally and, as a responsible supplier, we have many initiatives already in place to reduce our impact on the environment, whether it be biodiesel in our vehicles, consolidation of our supply chain, effective route planning or sourcing more local produce. We are committed to making a difference to the environment and our customers’ businesses.
ELS GETS DOWN AND DIRTY ON THE FARM
Some 35 people joined a farm walk at the Betts family farm at Offham, Kent, at the end of June to hear firsthand how Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) can fit into farming practice.
The ‘whole farm scheme’, which was launched by Defra in March 2005, is designed to secure widespread environmental benefits.
ELS aims to improve conditions for farmland wildlife, maintain and enhance the landscape, to protect the historic environment, to improve water quality and reduce soil erosion.
Farmers who sign up are awarded £30 per hectare for five years.
The event was organised by ADAS on behalf of Natural England.
Nick Caspell from ADAS gave a presentation on the application and operation of the scheme.
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