Farmers should seize the opportunity to work collaboratively with food processors and manufacturers - the “missing link” in the food chain, according to a report by English Farming and Food Partnerships (EFFP).
The report, released on Tuesday, is intended to be a bridge builder between farmers and the processing sector. It is based on a survey of 350 UK-based food processors and manufacturers, supported by 30 follow-up interviews.
Stuart Thompson, EFFP associate director, said: “Farmers have been told that they need to become more market focused or they will not have a sustainable and profitable future. But the reality is it’s a lot more difficult to do on the ground.”
Processors and manufacturers “are often the forgotten part of the food chain”, he added. But there is potential for closer collaboration. The food and drink processing and manufacturing sector, with a gross value added of £21 billion and 415,000 employees, is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector.
Thompson, pictured, said that, while the retail, processing and foodservice markets have shown steady growth for the last two decades, as high value-added sectors, farming output has remained steady at around £14m.
“The competitive market is changing. Globalisation is here and we have to compete with imports. But there is less government involvement and the farmer is more exposed to market forces.”
Nearly three quarters of respondents to the EFFP survey believe they benefit from a thriving regional farming industry, and some 80 per cent would prefer to source raw materials from the region in which they operate. But in practice only a third of food processors and manufacturers are sourcing products from within their regions.
The study also found that a significant proportion of food processors said they would like to have more direct contact with farm suppliers and 46 per cent said they would be interested in farmers approaching them with a view to becoming a supplier. Two thirds of the processors questioned believed farmers would strengthen their position with suppliers if they formed collaborative groups.
Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “The billion dollar question is whether retailers, food processors and foodservice companies are ready to step forward and invest with us.”
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