HORTICULTURE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The Welsh Assembly Government works hand in hand with the length of the supply chain through its food and marketing division, set up to support businesses and promote the very best the country has to offer. Anna Sbuttoni reports.
A number of strategies and initiatives have been put in place by the Welsh Assembly to support and extend the horticultural sector, with the aim that the industry should focus on diversifying its offer and increase volumes, to meet growing demands both within the Welsh community and from the rest of the UK.
The Welsh Assembly is responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern, including the economy, health, education, and local government. Its remit is to make decisions on matters that affect the public, develop and implement policy, make subordinate legislation including regulations and statutory guidance, as well as propose Welsh law.
The role of the food and marketing development division, headed up by Dr Norma Barry, is to support the Welsh food and drink industry with strategic guidance and European funding. The department works with businesses right across the fresh produce supply chain, from the farm gate to the consumer, to make the most of the Welsh sector.
“The key work we do is with companies, to help them develop their business strategies,” Barry says. “We can provide funding for machinery and equipment, marketing, branding and packaging, as well as taking them to all the big trade shows.
“We give growers and suppliers support on how to deal with the major multiples, with training that takes them right through the process, because dealing with a buyer can be quite a learning curve.”
A range of fresh produce is traditionally associated with Wales, with Pembrokeshire new potatoes, leeks, cauliflower and daffodils making up some of the most popular lines. Fruit is grown in the lowlands and near the English border, with soft fruit and top fruit making up the biggest offer.
“One of the things that the government is focusing on is trying to get farmers to diversify, so that they can grow more local produce,” says Barry. “The aim is for Wales to be more self-sufficient but, at the moment, we produce a lot of red meat but we are not producing enough fruit and vegetables. We are working to create markets that farmers can respond to, as well as highlight existing opportunities for home-grown produce.”
Communication with growers and suppliers is key to find out the best way forward for them, with their input. A strategy group for Welsh horticulture has been running for a number of years, in which trade representatives are brought together regularly to discuss how best to tackle the challenges they face. An updated strategic action plan is now being put together, to encourage joined-up thinking for mutual benefits.
“The first thing we have to do is get the message out to the primary production industry that there are market demands there that they could be fulfilling,” Barry says. “We have tried to get this across with the creation of Farming Connect, which is similar to Business Link, but for the agricultural sector.
“The next step is to provide support, from anything from obtaining the right machinery and equipment for washing and packing to marketing, and we can use European funding for that under the Rural Development Plan for Wales. The approach is really about the whole chain.”
A processing and marketing grant scheme, intended to fund facilities, and a supply chain efficiency programme, aimed at helping producers work together, complement a general marketing initiative to give the Welsh industry the best possible support. This adds to work with the UK levy bodies to make the most of the opportunities for the Welsh sector.
The success of projects and strategies is measured by monitoring sales growth, employment and profitability.
Support for marketing initiatives is also key to boosting the Welsh horticulture sector. An overarching brand for Welsh food, True Taste, and its accompanying set of awards identify some of the best products and generate publicity for the companies involved. All winners receive free branding and marketing advice, as well as point-of-sale materials, to support their businesses.
Really Welsh is just one of the companies to have blossomed after winning a True Taste award, and it now supplies a range of vegetables, including cauliflower and leeks, as well as daffodils, to major UK retailers.
Wales may not be perceived as a significant production area for fruit and vegetables, but changes in the agricultural sector and a shift in demand have convinced Barry that there will be increased opportunities for fresh produce production in the future. “The geography and climate of Wales means we are mainly sheep and cattle producers, and we have had some success with dairy, while horticulture is one of the lowest in terms of production,” she says. “But with climate change, CAP reform and the Single Farm Payment Scheme, there are opportunities for farms to move into horticulture.
“We are trying to put in place a group to support direct sales, on farmers’ markets and on the internet, which should be in place by the end of the year,” she continues. “As another part of our strategic plan for our local sourcing agenda, we are supporting food festivals aimed at local sourcing and tourism.”
The growing demand for home-grown produce has already made its mark in Wales now that the local sourcing trend has taken off, just as it has done in the rest of the UK.
“There are those who, anecdotally, are increasingly looking for home-grown lines both at farmers’ markets and supermarkets,” says Barry. “It is a clear trend and, now that the multiples have taken notice and made it part of their business strategies, all the indications are that it will continue.”
The Welsh Assembly is now taking steps to better understand the fresh produce industry in the country. Research projects at two local authorities have been funded recently in order to create a clearer picture of the horticultural sector in each area, including how many growers there are, how much they are producing, where their markets are and what opportunities they have for supplying the public sector.
There are plans for this to be carried out on an all-Wales basis to achieve an accurate and up-to-date representation of the entire horticultural industry in the country.
“The findings from the initial research showed that there is more scope in terms of opportunities and demand, but a lot of the smaller growers need to collaborate; they need the support mechanism to bring them together, and perhaps jointly develop packing or distribution facilities.
“The Welsh horticulture industry produces great products, and there are great opportunities for market development,” adds Barry.
STUBBINS GOES ROYAL IN WALES
Salad grower Stubbins made an appearance at the Royal Welsh Show this week at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s conferencing facilities at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells.
The Royal Welsh show ran from July 21-24, and welcomed more than 50,000 people on the first day alone. In Stubbins’ fourth year exhibiting at the show, the company had tomatoes from its Cardiff nursery on display for all to see.
“It is the biggest agricultural event in Wales,” says Stubbins’ Mike Corcoran. “It is a massive part and the industry, and that is why we make sure we are there.”
The show featured more than 1,000 exhibitors and the number of visitors was expected to exceed 200,000 by the end of the show.
REALLY WELSH TURNS BACK TIME
Three years ago, Really Welsh was established with the aim of putting Wales back on the map as a grower of its iconic traditional lines - leeks and daffodils - in the minds of Welsh retailers and consumers alike. Having achieved its aims, the company is moving on to new ventures by pushing the brand out into England and taking on new products. Elizabeth O’Keefe caught up with Really Welsh’s Richard Arnold at the annual Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival.
How did Really Welsh get involved with the Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival?
We have a really good relationship with the organisers, Cardiff Council, so it seemed like just the place to advertise Really Welsh’s new line of Welsh ready meals and our first crop of Welsh chillies.
We find these kind of festivals really help to get our message and products across, and we also have a stall at the Royal Welsh Show each year, where we launched the brand in 2005.
Our two ready meals - cauliflower cheese and leek and potato gratin - are made out of entirely Welsh products, and the vegetables are from Really Welsh’s farms. We have trialled the ready meals in a Spar in south Wales and will eventually roll them out to Tesco stores.
This is the first time for the company at the festival, and it has been a really good experience so far.
How did Really Welsh get started?
English grower Colin Bailey of Emmetts was challenged to grow cauliflowers in Wales when Tesco was looking for brassicas for its Welsh stores in 2004. Bailey used to work for Puffin Produce in the late 1990s, so he was not a stranger to Wales and took up the challenge to get brassicas back into the country.
After the cauliflower production got underway, a potential was identified to do the same with fresh-cut daffodils, and also get that production back into Wales. At that time, there was only one other daffodil grower, which produced a small amount of the flowers, and the industry was really in the hands of the Dutch and Cornish growers. The Really Welsh brand was born in December 2005 and encompassed cauliflowers and daffodils.
We began to grow leeks in 2006 for the 2006-07 season, and found the veg grew a lot better in the Welsh climate than in Cornwall, where the majority of production has been centred in the UK.
By 2007, Really Welsh cauliflower and leeks were the only ones stocked in the 50 Tesco stores in Wales.
Where are Really Welsh’s production areas and how much do they produce?
We grow leeks on 350 acres of land in north Wales and cauliflower on an accumulative 900a in both north and south Wales. Our daffodil fields are in south Wales and cover 250a, and we have 14 million daffodils in the ground at present.
In cauliflower terms, we produce 60,000 heads a week and need 30,000-45,000 heads a week in the peak summer months to satisfy demand in Wales, so we will be exporting to England.
Is Really Welsh going to diversify by offering other products?
Our new product is Welsh chillies, which is part of Really Welsh’s promise to help Welsh charities. The chillies are grown by the young offenders’ charity, Hope Acres, and Really Welsh also gives five per cent of all its profits to Wales-based charities. The chillies have just launched and production is limited, but it is the first commercial production of chillies in the country. Picking has just started, and we are looking at a couple of 100kg this year.
We are also growing kale and spinach, but demand is not that high in Wales so we are exporting the products to our sister company Emmetts, while we try to drum up demand here.
Has Really Welsh achieved its goals?
Everyone associates leeks and daffodils with Wales, and we have brought them back home. Our daffodils in particular are doing very well, and are sold in both Tesco and Waitrose. We have seen off the Cornish produce in Wales and now it is time to export to England. Welsh people generally love what we are doing, and we get a lot of supportive emails; they really want to see Welsh produce back in Wales.
Fuel prices are not about to come down, so the simple answer is to keep it local. We have seen sales of leeks double since we packaged them in a band with the Welsh flag on - it is what people want.
ABOUT THE CARDIFF FESTIVAL
Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival took place on July 11-13, at Roald Dahl Plass on Cardiff Bay. An annual affair, this year’s festival was considerably larger than last year’s, and included a producers’ fair, farmers’ market, bandstand entertainment and a food piazza. Demonstrations at the event included children’s workshops and ideas on how to create dishes using local produce.
As well as local food, the festival featured food from France, Germany, Norway, Poland and Italy.
CARDIFF PORT PREPARES TO SAY SHIP AHOY TO FRESH PRODUCE
Cardiff Port has a rich and complex history when it comes to fresh produce. Elizabeth O’Keefe finds out how important the facility could be to the Welsh fruit and vegetable industry in the future.
Cardiff Port has not seen a fresh produce ship in its dock for over a decade, and fruit and vegetables are transferred into the port for storage by container ships via road from Bristol Port, leaving Cardiff’s main quay imports as timber and steel.
But a wave of change is coming over the facility, mostly due to ABP South Wales Ports handing over the management of the port’s main operational and management departments at its coldstore at the Queen Alexandra Docks to family-run company Wild Water Logistics (WWL).
“I think we will see our first fresh produce ship come into the port this year,” says Ken Rattenbury, managing director of WWL. “We are in negotiations with shipping lines to expand our operations from logistics and storage to quay imports and distribution of graded fruit.
“Cardiff Port had a presence in the fruit industry 20 years ago and imported large amounts of citrus and apples from South Africa and Morocco, but things have moved on. We want to attract ships back into the quay and bring companies like Capespan, A1 Fruit and Fruit Man back into the port. It will help local fruit buyers, and the local economy will also benefit.”
WWL started off as a supplier of ambient warehousing, transport and product consolidation, and established the business at its ambient storage and distribution centre in Cowbridge, near Bridgend. It was assigned to take over Cardiff Port’s coldstore from owners ABP in November 2006. Since then, the company decided to take the port on a journey, with the aim of getting the food coldstorage facility and its dock back to its former glory. “It has been a rollercoaster ride since we took over at Cardiff,” says Rattenbury, who co-founded WWL with his wife Jacky. “We have had to put a lot of investment in place, and we have had to pass an audit for every customer. We have recently welcomed Capespan as a storage customer, and store up to 4,000 tonnes of oranges at the port, which will then go out to its customers in the area.”
When trends for bigger ships and less port deviation hit the industry in the 1990s, Cardiff Port’s trade in imported fruit and vegetables came to a standstill as its locks were no longer viable for the size of the ship. But it retained a trade in frozen fruit juice concentrates through the Serious Food Company, which continues to store produce at the port as a WWL customer. Now, WWL is looking to attract smaller feeder ships. The feeder traffic would be taken from large container vessels at large UK ports and transshipped in feeder vessels, which would then go to regional ports. This would offer ships the option of not going by road, as well as many financial and environmental benefits.
“Bringing fresh produce ships into the port will improve the carbon footprint of the fresh produce, as at the moment it is shipped into Bristol or other ports,” says Rattenbury. “The carbon footprint is a good selling point for us; the Carbon Trust has come to visit and gave advice. There is also no legal weight limit at the port, and this would help with costing.”
As well as being a partner to the Serious Food Company, WWL is keen to work with its customers and welcomes further business into Cardiff dock. One of the ways the company makes such connections is through trade shows such as Fruit Logistica at Messe Berlin in Germany. “We have been to Fruit Logistica for the last three years, and we are looking to work with other countries to achieve our goal of getting those ships in,” says Rattenbury. “We have been very close to getting the deal done, and now it is only a matter of time.”
And if further evidence were needed that the future is bright for WWL, the company is planning to build a fruit-grading facility, a packaging facility, blast freezing and product sleeve operation, and a chilled consolidation and distribution centre. Furthermore, since WWL took control of Cardiff Port’s coldstore, it has been awarded the Welsh Food Standards medal and is in the process of achieving the British Retail Consortium’s global award.
“Cardiff as a city is growing massively, and more is happening within south Wales,” says Rattenbury. “There has been a lot of investment in south Wales and you can see that by the growth in local businesses and the success of the Serious Food Company. ABP has given us a nice opportunity to be part of that, and we have been lucky to end up at Cardiff Port with the only coldstorage facility provider in Cardiff.”
Rattenbury is keen on the idea of consolidating WWL’s efforts with other companies to both conserve money and the environment. The company is currently in the running for a new multi-million pound tender to stock and distribute fruit juices and smoothies throughout the UK and Ireland. “If we achieve this tender, we will be working with ABP to negotiate building a distribution centre here, and it will be the beginning of a whole new era,” says Rattenbury. “If that happens we could extend the pallet space for chilled fresh produce.”
Rattenbury believes that this will also help WWL get fresh produce into Cardiff Port, and will attract ships. “If we can get the ships into the quay, then we will be able to get all kinds of fresh produce into Cardiff,” he says. “Cardiff has a real point to prove; we can take fresh produce in here and move it on to Barry and Swansea, etc, as there are more and more distribution centres opening up across Wales. In the current climate, we have to act more sensibly and work on a more local basis if we are going to cut back on the cost of distribution.”
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