A pea growing co-operative is launching a new regional brand for the vegetable, Yorkshire Peas.
Swaythorpe Growers is a co-operative of 40 Yorkshire pea and claims to have initiated the first fully farmer-owned brand of fine peas, aimed at supermarkets and independent retailers.
Matthew Hayward, a director of Yorkshire Peas, said the co-op wanted to move away from commodity farming into something its “had more control over”.
He said: “We’ve been growing peas for a wide range of customers and saw the rise in demand for locally produced food and thought that trend should extend to the freezer.”
The peas are all grown by family farms based on the Yorkshire Wolds and then frozen locally at a facility owned by one of the growers.
Hayward added: “Clearly, we’re taking on massive multinational competition, but I feel that “local food” should not be confined to some muddy carrots at the local Farm Shop. It should extend to how most of us cook, shop, and eat. What consumers don’t always consider is that much of the frozen vegetable offering in the supermarkets are not British grown. So in developing Yorkshire Peas, we’re giving consumers a choice to support the British Farming industry.”
Initial reaction to the brand from the supermarkets has been “positive”, and the team of farmers turned branders are in talks with a number of retailers.
“We’ve always been proud of what we grow, but selling peas with our name on the packet has genuinely taken farming to a new level for us. Developing something grown, harvested frozen and marketed by ourselves brings immense satisfaction. The peas taste pretty good too, if I can say so myself,” said Hayward.
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