US officials visit G’s Group and discuss expanding UK veg exports following beetroot announcement
US ag-trade officials visited British vegetable grower G’s Group last week to discuss UK veg export opportunities to the United States.
Matthew Palmer, US deputy chief of mission at Embassy London, and Anita Katial US counsellor for agricultural affairs, toured G’s farming operations in Cambridgeshire, where they discussed export opportunities for UK beetroot, radish and celery in the US with members of the G’s team.
The US officials were accompanied by minister of state for Defra, Daniel Zeichner, on the 4 October visit, which followed the 28 September announcement that the US had granted access to UK raw beetroot.
G’s Group said discussions during the visit ranged from the opportunity for the recent beetroot agreement to act as a roadmap for future export access for UK crops such as celery and radish, to how UK and US growers can work together on automation projects to improve productivity and reduce harvest labour requirements.
John Shropshire, chairman of G’s Group, thanked Minister Zeichner and the US officials for their support in ensuring beetroot was one of the first agricultural products to benefit from the new export access to the US market.
He went on to state: “G’s has worked closely with growers in the United States for almost 60 years, co-operating to learn and share best practice farming innovations and ideas. In 2010 G’s put down roots in the United States with the development of the Love Beets beetroot brand, which is today sold in every state.
“G’s commitment to the US market was further enhanced with the construction of our own beetroot processing plant in Rochester, New York in 2016. This access agreement provides a tangible example in how UK and U.S. food production can benefit from cooperation in agricultural trade by supplying raw beetroot from the UK to the Rochester plant when U.S. grown beets are not as readily available.”
Zeichner and the US officials toured G’s organic beetroot farming and harvesting operations. The visit then moved on to G’s Grower, Greens Farming Ltd, to see the beetroot beetroot that could now potentially be shipped to G’s Love Beets processing plant in Rochester, New York.
Commenting on the visit, Zeichner said: “It was a pleasure to visit G’s Growers to see their farming operations up close and how they will benefit from access to the US beetroot market. This government was elected on a mandate to support the UK’s farmers through trade deals, and will work tirelessly over the coming weeks and months to back them and get our food exports moving again.”
Palmer added: “There are incredible opportunities and valuable benefits for U.S. and UK agriculture when we work together on increasing market access for our products on both sides of the pond.”
