It represents one of the biggest potential sales and marketing boosts for British produce in decades. So what are British growers and farmers doing now to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics?
Despite predictions that millions of sports fans and tourists will visit London and select parts of the rest of the country in 2012, attracted by the Olympic torch, carrying with them some £2 billion to be distributed liberally among UK businesses, some producers might feel the finishing line is a little too distant to start sprinting for the tape just yet.
But there are those in the industry who believe that going for gold in terms of visitor’s cash - the London Retail Consortium expects the games to generate a healthy £521 million, a hefty chunk of which will be spent on food - requires a good deal of pre-season preparation.
“We need to inject a sense of urgency,” says the NFU’s head of food and farming, Robin Tapper, who is heading up the union’s preparations for the Games.
His remit is to focus on showcasing British food in the run-up to and during the three weeks the Olympic circus grunts and sweats its way across the capital and around the country.
“The question is: how do we do this? I’ve got to say, it’s been slow going so far. Oddly enough, the Olympic organisers have food way down the priority list at the moment,” he says.
It seems all too true. One look at the London 2012 website reveals a long list of tenders with not a mention of food or flowers. A couple of telephone calls to the organisers’ press office elicited nothing more than a ‘we’re concentrating on building the site first’ response. Understandable, you might think. And this may be because food and flowers seem a little like also-rans at this stage to Lord Coe and company. After all, there are quite a few hoops they must jump through to keep their plans on track. But that complacency could prove a stumbling block considering the potential logistical and contractual obstacles that may need to be hurdled.
Tapper goes on: “In terms of trying to showcase British food I think people are underestimating the problems. We’re working with other organisations to see if we can get something going, for instance, the British Hospitality Association. And we’re looking for other partners.
“Speaking from the food side of things, I don’t think the Olympic Delivery Authority is moving as fast as it should. We have got to get moving pretty quickly, I believe.”
He urges the authorities not to get too ‘hung up’ on the ‘Green Olympics’ and organics agenda. The NFU wants to showcase British produce and, within that, specialities such as Cornish potatoes or Welsh lamb. It is, he says, a case of focusing primarily on local, regional and British. To that end he believes growers and farmers should already be trying to forge links and alliances with catering and foodservice operators as well as hotel chains, restaurants and pubs locally and nationally.
“We at the NFU can create a framework. But farmers and growers have to produce the goods and take action themselves. They should develop a food chain strategy for the Olympics 2012 and the run-up to it.”
Beijing next year should re-focus the business world’s minds on 2012 and help build up a little momentum. Even though British producers cannot hope to fill all the supply needed in five years time the goal is to establish a commanding position and high profile presence off the final bend.
The ornamentals industry is a slightly different story. It got off to a flying start January 2006 when it launched an initiative to exploit opportunities available in 2012. Entitled ‘Greening the Games’ it aims to explore the amenity side of venue, stadia and Olympic village development. It is backed by HTA, BALI and the Turf Grass Association. A steering group was appointed and it sought to proceed through political lobbying, a contact programme and industry-led media activity.
Its objectives are, of course, to secure Olympic contracts for UK landscaping and horticulture companies; use the Olympics to highlight UK best practice in landscape and horticulture; increase capacity within the industry through vocational training; increase political influence of the UK landscape and horticulture industry through conducting a professional campaign; and promote key industry messages through the campaign.
The strategy is to put the issue on the political agenda, follow this up with media coverage, lobby decision makers, engage with potential delivery partner consortia to promote the industry and advise the industry on how to organise the supply chain.
As a result ‘Greening the Games’ claims to have established a united industry position; gathered ministerial endorsement for the campaign; achieved press coverage; initiated a head-start on foreign suppliers in relationships with contractors; and identified strengths/weaknesses of UK industry.
One well-known face in the horticulture industry, the PVGA’s Tim Mudge, sits on the ‘Greening the Games’ steering group, though for the Turf Grass Association.
He says it does not take a leap of imagination to see a lot of landscaping is required. To satisfy that need he believes his role is to help make sure the Olympic Delivery Authority is fully aware that horticulture has a vital part to play.
“We have to get into legacy mode,” he urges. “What happens to the Olympic area after the games, after the car parks have been torn up? There will be huge stadia with landscaped areas. What are we going to do with it? It affects employment levels. It’s about urban regeneration. We don’t want it to be like Athens. Nobody used the facilities after the Athens Olympics. It returned to the desert.
“The Olympics offers an ideal opportunity for whatever campaign to make sure the authorities take notice and you have to lobby and influence for that.”
He adds: “I have said in the past there is a huge opportunity for the food industry to get involved in this. Not only fruit and veg but also the meat and livestock people. We should focus in on all the health benefits of good, fresh food and the benefits of local food.”
However, he warns that companies looking to get involved in the Olympics will probably find the financial bar placed rather high and the process fraught with legal pitfalls.
“You can’t just bandy the Olympic name about all over the place,” he says.
“Unfortunately, the horticulture industry is so fragmented, made up of small companies, I don’t think as individuals or even groups they have the financial clout to exploit it. It’s big companies like McDonald’s who can afford to sponsor it. We don’t have the money. We’d be lucky to get a ‘5-a-Day’ logo on the bottom corner of a programme.
“But growers and farmers can look at getting into contracts and supply arrangements for the huge catering companies. We need to make sure the produce comes from the UK as much as possible. And that feeds in with objectives like the Games being carbon neutral. Don’t fly it in from abroad. Transport it from local areas.”
As far as the horticulture industry is concerned he believes organisations like the NFU, 5-a-Day and the Fresh Produce Consortium have the best chance of influencing political decisions. And his advice to those planning to get involved in supply is to keep an eye on the tenders and procurement pages of the London 2012 website.
“This is a time to raise the rallying cry for larger organisations to put themselves forward and list what they are going to do for the Olympics. We need to think about it now,” he says.
One of the companies that will undoubtedly be looking for involvement is Redbridge Holdings. It operates in the foodservice industry as well as supplying flowers and plants.
Executive chairman Denis Punter confirmed that from his experience he believed not many people in horticulture were looking at the opportunities represented by the Olympics at the moment.
But he fully recognised the Games offered a ‘vast increase in opportunities’ through restaurants and retailers.
While agreeing with Tim Mudge that the horticulture industry is fragmented, he believed the bigger players did have the capability to participate in produce supply to the Games.
He says: “For UK growers, it’s making sure their product is part of the mix supplied to the Olympics.”
Apart from Denis Punter, who delivered a ‘watch this space’ message about involvement in the Games, other foodservice companies were curiously reticent about proffering an opinion. Whether this was to cloak future plans or hide the fact they simply had not got round to thinking about it yet is unclear.
What is clear is that millions of pounds above the norm will be spent by visitors to these shores in 2012. To exploit that windfall growers must position themselves well in the starting line-up and jockey for position with the rest of the field in this long distance race to the finish line. Let’s hope UK businesses are in good enough condition to make it to the winner’s rostrum.
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