Vegetable producer chosen for its “long-standing commitment to innovative, climate-positive approaches across its entire operation”
Huntapac has become LEAF’s 41st Demonstration Farm, adding to the organisation’s UK network of businesses that showcase best farming practice.
Based in Lancashire, Huntapac has been growing vegetables for over 80 years and is one of the UK’s largest LEAF Marque-certified carrot and parsnip producers.
Today, it grows 1,500 hectares of vegetables, mainly carrots and parsnips, on land from Norfolk to Inverness.
Huntapac is a major supplier to some of the largest retailers in the UK, including Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Co-op, Aldi and Lidl. All have made a global commitment to LEAF Marque certification across their fresh produce supply chains.
LEAF said it had made Huntapac a Demonstration Farm thanks to its “long-standing commitment to innovative, climate-positive approaches across its entire operation – from growing and packing to transportation and delivery”.
Since 2023, Huntapac has been involved with LEAF in a three-year ‘Journey to Net Zero’ project, funded by the Co-op Foundation.
The business has been working to establish a baseline carbon footprint, while implementing a cycle of net-zero monitoring and target-setting. Its goals are to:
- Trial low carbon fertilisers (R Leaf, Fibrophos and Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria) across more than 1,000 acres
- Increase the area assigned to biodiversity and planting more wildflower meadows
- Use Agrisound boxes to monitor pollinator movements to better assess different habitats
- Explore different carbon tools to assess how appropriate they are for Huntapac’s farming system
- Invest in hybrid hydrogen fleet vehicles, install EV chargers, and fit LED lighting in the packhouse
Huntapac’s technical and sustainability director, Stephen Shields, said: “Huntapac has a strong heritage in delivering high-quality fresh produce both in the UK and across Europe, whilst prioritising efficiency and sustainability across the breadth of our operations.
“Whilst being acutely aware of our own environmental obligations, there is a real need for collective effort across the farming sector to ensure we are prepared for the challenges of climate change and associated legislation.”
LEAF CEO David Webster added: “As the first of our ‘net-zero project farms’ to become a Demonstration Farm, Huntapac will act as an important hub for knowledge exchange, collaboration and learning in the area of more sustainable farming practices in the fresh produce sector.”
He explained that the business would also “provide us with a valuable hub to facilitate knowledge exchange in the northwest of England”.
