It’s not often in your working life that you are handed a huge task that will almost certainly define your career. But when The Co-operative Farms’ head of fruit operations David Gardner was handed the keys to Highland Court Farms (HCF), a sprawling expanse near Canterbury, at the start of November last year, the experienced agri-food boss must have seen both the risk and opportunity.
A quick stroll in a small section of the vast orchards reveals the scale of the work to be done in turning a farm with a good name but faltering production into the operation The Co-operative wants it to be. A vast range of crops and varieties are spread across the orchards and ailing trees are now being pulled from the HCF soil.
A completely different scene is in evidence just a short distance away, where 25 hectares of similar soil has been newly planted with Braeburn and Royal Gala production at a forecast output of 50 tonnes per hectare.
Highland Investment Company was formed in 1928 at HCF as a family-owned arable farm, expanding into fruit growing in 1940, growing grapes for wine production. In the 1950s and 1960s, the business went on the acquisition trail, purchasing new farms, including Paramour Farm near Ash, Felderland near Sandwich, Upper Horton at Chartham and Worth Hill. Over the years, the farm developed an impressive reputation for innovation, installing new crops and embracing diversification. By the time The Co-operative Farms bought out the business - taking over management in January - this innovation had become the farm’s Achilles heel as 10 different crops demanded time, attention and detailed agronomy on a huge scale.
The Co-operative Farms had been sizing up an acquisition in the south for two years before the 20-year lease was signed on HCF. But when a family farm with no obvious successor met a supermarket-owned business with strong ambitions and a desire for critical mass, a perfect match was formed. After various meetings and negotiations with Highland Investment Company CEO Gary Walters - as well as other businesses - the supermarket’s production arm decided on the Canterbury-Sandwich site to accompany its 1,000t of soft-fruit production in Blairgowrie and packhouse operations in Longforgan, Scotland, as well as its 100-year-old fruit farm in Herefordshire, to provide volume.
There’s no doubt the job’s a big one. The Co-operative hopes the
£5 million, six- to seven-year project will yield 80ha of new orchards to boost the supermarket’s home-grown top-fruit supplies in particular and further strengthen its Co-operative Farms-branded produce. In addition, 3,000t equivalent of new storage will be built to house the future crop and in the meantime, will be rented out to businesses in the Garden of England. Several minor crops - including asparagus - are being considered for removal.
“Ten years ago, I don’t think a project like this would have been possible,” says Gardner. “People simply were not interested in provenance but now, having British fruit is vital. It started off with the food scares in the 1990s, which made people start to worry where their food was coming from. Now TV chefs have had a great role to play in pushing UK produce. We want to supply our own stores with our own produce.”
Gardner believes that with a specific offer like The Co-operative’s - providing a variety of diverse, ethically sound products largely in small to mid-size stores on the high street - supplies into stores have to be equally specific. As such, with many stores simply stocking one or two varieties of apples, largely Braeburn, then the farm is set to reflect the market, growing the Granny Smith-Lady Hamilton cross in volume.
SUPPLIES INTO STORE
“We have a direct line to the consumer that the average farm does not have so we can see what the consumer prefers with products and pack sizes - we are growing for a known market,” says Gardner. “We hope that we can develop an understanding of the supply chain as a whole, we see room for opportunity. It still surprises me that we do have inefficiencies in the supply chain.”
But he still warns that the competitive edge only stretches so far. “We can take cost out but we are still subject to the vagaries of the market,” says Gardner. “The Co-operative still has to compete on the market and if apples are being discounted, we are not immune from that. I think we will see the fresh produce market grow and we’ll see food inflation outstrip general inflation.
“I do think supermarkets in general should have more joined-up thinking between how much volume of crop there is and supermarket promotions - that’s the biggest benefit of a joined-up partnership. If a crop is short then promotional activity, or lack of, should reflect that.”
Gardner is incredibly positive about the UK’s number-five retailer. He describes the Somerfield integration as “very straightforward” and the internal Best of the Best system as “very effective” in bringing the businesses together. “It is really buoyant at the moment. The Co-op is going through a resurgence. During the Thatcher years, its ownership did not reflect the climate but now it’s very good.”
For the HCF model to work successfully, the business is keen to fill the 3,000t of coldstorage and the associated packhouse and is looking out into the industry to fill the cold and dry storage space. The site has secure site access by the A2 with links both north and south and it will be interesting to see who takes up the offer.
One element of the ambitious project on a very sound footing is the staff. Gardner and Highland Court operations manager Sean Finlayson have inherited what they describe as a “wonderfully talented” workforce and bolstered it with new additions to create a core team of 13 permanent staff, with housing for 80 seasonal workers on site.
Two graduates from The Co-operative’s own training scheme - Jim Burston and Lucy Mason - have been brought in, having gained one and two years’ experience with the business respectively. The Co-operative has also linked up with Reaseheath College in Cheshire to bring in apprentices under a brand new scheme. “We have brought in nine apprentices across the whole of The Co-operative Farms - we need to ensure we have a new generation of technicians to take over the business across all of The Co-operative Farms,” says Gardner, who later observes apprentice Tom Birch drive a tractor for the first time.
With the foundations in place, HCF is once again ready to take up a position as one of the foremost fruit producers in Kent. There’s no doubt that retailers and suppliers alike will have a close eye on how the project develops and, against the background of increased direct sourcing of overseas supply, there is a feeling a blueprint is about to be laid out.
