Partnership
Pork farmers supplying Waitrose have saved an estimated £850,000 on feed per year since 2010, following a £3 million investment to roll out an innovative feeding system known as Eco Pig.
The feeding system has a lower environmental impact than traditional systems, according to Waitrose, which reported on the investment in the 2015 John Lewis Partnership annual report, published on 24 April 2015.
Waitrose has a sole pork supplier, Dalehead Foods, and its subsidiary, BQP, footed the £3 million bill.
Waitrose said its “respectful partnership approach” with suppliers had given BQP the ability to invest in the individual farms with which it works. “This helps to increase capacity, improve standards and efficiency, and encourage the next generation of farmers,” the annual report stated. “This respectful partnership approach has given BQP the ability to invest in the individual farms with which it works.”
The report added that, since 2010, 44 of Dalehead’s farmer partners have invested more than £13 million in buildings, during a period of low confidence in the sector as a whole, to create new capacity.
Vegetable supplier forms ‘strategic alliance’ with Lincolnshire Field Products to secure land bank for brassicas
Vegetable giant Produce World has joined with Lincolnshire Field Products (LFP) to form one of its largest growing partners for brassicas for the 2015 harvest.
The company will now work in partnership with LFP and a number of existing key growers.
“The Produce World Group is a growing business with ambitious plans over the next five years. We are reviewing our strategies across the Group including procurement,” said procurement director, Jon Campbell. “In this sector there was an opportunity to work with LFP, which is one of the country’s leading brassica growers. We are delighted to add its experience and expertise to that of our other key growers.”
Campbell said it is “critical” to secure a land bank for brassicas, which is facing tough competition from other crops in terms of pressure on land and consolidation in the industry.
“We feel this is an important move for the future of brassica growing in Lincolnshire, and will best meet the needs of our customers in the future.
“LFP are at the cutting-edge of agronomy in this sector. Their considerable experience and expertise enables them to deliver the brassica crop in an accurate and timely manner,” he said.
Martin Tate, commercial director for LFP, said: “We are looking forward to working closely with the team at Produce World and meeting the needs of its customers in 2015. We feel that there are considerable synergies between our two organisations, particularly as Produce World is a company with farming at its heart.”
Produce World also grows potatoes and onions through its farming division Burgess Farms, as well as through partnerships with grower groups including Taylor Grown, Tompsett Burgess Growers and Greenshoots.
In July the company bought Scottish root vegetable specialists This is Organics (TIO) for an undisclosed sum, which it said would secure the future of organic land and expertise of Scottish growers.