Disappointed with the 2006 Mayor’s London Food Strategy, CGMA has decided to take matters into its own hands by creating a partnership with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to promote and increase availability of local fruit and vegetables in London and the surrounding south-east counties. The three-year partnership will kick off with ‘A Celebration of Local Food’ early next year, which aims to bring together some of the best fresh produce growers from areas such as Kent, Hampshire, East Anglia and Surrey, with wholesale traders and caterers.
Helen Evans, CGMA information officer, explains: “We got together with SEEDA, who we have an ongoing relationship with, to discuss the Mayor of London’s Food Strategy report, as we felt that the wholesale market had much more of a role to play in the promotion of local food than the report indicated.”
Evans maintains that out of the 138-page document, published by the London Development Agency (LDA) in May last year, more emphasis was placed on the importance of farmers’ markets in London, with only a few paragraphs on the effect wholesale markets have on London’s food culture. “The food strategy for healthy and sustainable food for London states that the city’s extraordinary social and cultural diversity is reflected in more than 60 different cuisines provided in more than 12,000 restaurants, which is more than half the UK’s total,” Evans adds. “But it does not develop the concept that wholesale markets, such as NCGM, are now the gateway to foodservice.”
The mayor’s report aims to make London’s food system sustainable through “a plan of action to help us all make better and healthier choices” and celebrates London’s “vibrant and successful food culture”. It will also seek ways to support local, regional and organic producers, and help them connect to London markets and consumers. The CGMA communicated its views of this oversight to the LDA, and invited it to come to NCGM to understand how it is involved. Due to the lengthy nature of the procedure, SEEDA and CGMA decided to join in a jointly funded partnership to get the ball rolling.
As of next week, NCGM will have a market officer, Tom Beeston, who will be able to concentrate on increasing the market’s local offer. With a varied food background, Beeston will be based within the market traders’ units and will establish a relationship with wholesale traders and foodservice firms alike. “He has a background in agriculture, food manufacture and food retail, but for the last seven years he has run his own organic retail shop,” says Evans. “He knows a lot of producers in the South East personally, and has worked in a wholesale market in the past.”
There is already a local distribution chain in place at NCGM, but Evans admits that there are some creases to iron out. “We need to clear the chain and make it easier for all producers to trade,” she says. “Some small growers find it hard to get their food into London, but we already have the distribution and legislation in place, as well as a sales network, so it is the best place to start.”
Evans maintains that the event, and subsequent similar events planned throughout the next three years, will solve a great deal of the communication problems that exist. “This event will bring together the end users, like the caterers and chefs, with the growers and wholesalers,” she says. “Chefs are now demanding local produce and need to be educated on how to get that, and what seasonality issues to expect.”
Nicholas Saphir, wholesale market consultant, believes that local sourcing should be encouraged in markets throughout the UK. “The wholesale market is having to increasingly supply what its customers want,” he says. “And there will be a growing desire to eat local food. This is where wholesale, and markets in general, have the potential to be the centre of future communities. For example, New Spitalfields could be the hub of the east counties, New Smithfields the centre of the North West, and Birmingham wholesale market the main provider to the Midlands, and so on. All of this encouragement will create more opportunities for local retailers and markets.”
But outside London, the promotion of local food does not seem to be making the waves it has in the South. Jim Dempsey, wholesale market manager at New Smithfields, Manchester, admits that local sourcing is not at the forefront of the market’s priorities, but it is an idea that he will work on in the future. According to the larger wholesale companies within New Smithfield, a very small amount, maybe as low as five per cent, of produce is sourced locally. Most wholesalers class local to be within a 50-mile radius of the market, and fruit sourced from that area was minimal, whilst locally grown vegetables from the likes of Cheshire and north Lancashire were sourced in a greater percentage. “Looking at the stands in the market, the vast majority of the fruit is from overseas,” says Dempsey. “Whilst traders are encouraged to buy locally, many are set in their ways and buy from the suppliers they have always used. But with the increase in catering companies and the trend for restaurants to advertise locally produced ingredients, there is a niche for local sourcing in wholesale markets.”
But Saphir warns that there could be some obstacles in the way, and insists that wholesale must follow its customers, not the other way around. “To strive to sell local produce, just because it is local, is not a good idea,” he advises. “It has got to be what the customer wants. To push the issue is not the answer.”
Evans agrees, and maintains that the drive for local food is very strong, but that issues surrounding supply do need to be addressed. “There is demand out there for local food, and it is not just from the top chefs in London, but from public procurement and retail as well,” she says. “NCGM is ideally placed to meet that demand and facilitate it. You cannot push people to deal with local produce; there has got to be a pull. But we have it here.”
This is not always the situation for wholesalers across the country. “We are very keen to source from local growers, and there is a huge demand from the local authorities, but where we are regionally in Gateshead, the amount of local produce available is very limited,” says John Holland, who heads up wholesale business JR Holland. “I think that the ‘eat local’ message has got tremendous merit, and the ripple effects on the local economy will ultimately benefit the growers and local communities. There is more interest in and more desire to buy local produce, and I think that has a lot to do with food miles.”
As a wave of ambiguity lies over terms such as food miles and the very definition of local, some in the wholesale industry would like a more solid definition of what is involved.
“I think we are only at the very beginning of the local debate; but the problem is that it is a badly understood and poorly formed debate,” says Saphir. “The overriding key is that wholesale markets are doing well because they are providing their customers with what they want. If wholesalers are going to start sourcing more from local farmers and businesses, it is the beginning of a new chapter. I think that is really exciting.”
Others are not as convinced as NCGM, but are willing to explore the opportunities that lie in local sourcing within the wholesale market.
“I do not think it is the future of wholesaling, but it is one of the elements that the sector should embrace,” says Krys Zasada, head of Manchester markets. “There have been issues relating to consistency of quantity and quality when wholesalers have tried to source more local produce. These are issues that can and should be resolved at a regional level with a multi-agency approach, including the National Farmers’ Union, the Fresh Produce Consortium, Business Links and Defra working to support the industry.
“As well as increased consumer demand for provenance and local food, there is a wider food security issue. If the climate change experts are to be believed, in the not too distant future, significant areas of agricultural land around the world will cease to be productive. It makes sense, strategically, to look to local production to bridge the gap. There are, therefore, potential short-term and longer-term benefits for wholesalers and producers in developing closer supply relationships.”
LOCAL AT CLICK OF A MOUSE
London Food Link (LFL) will launch its new online directory - the local food finder - on October 10. The online system will help businesses in London locate food produced in and around the capital, and is a response to demand from businesses looking for sustainable local produce.
London businesses will be able to find information on a huge range of local and sustainable producers by searching for product type, location and delivery area.
The directory also includes wholesale suppliers, and is aimed primarily at caterers and chefs. “We have focused on companies that specialise in or handle some form of sustainable produce,” says Ben Reynolds of LFL. “Wholesale supplier Four Degrees C, which operates from New Spitalfields market, is on the directory. The company promotes seasonal produce and its low food mile count.”
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