Driving Farmers to Market
07/02/05

The National Beef Association (NBA) and Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) have published a blueprint for reconnecting farmers with consumers.

They commissioned a report from British Agriculture Marketing (BAM) titled "Farming Industry Marketing Strategy" which exposes the market barriers faced by the farming industry and highlights the urgent need for a coherent food and farming policy designed so farmers can reconnect with consumers and generate a healthy food culture in the UK.

The Report:

" Reveals the challenges faced by the food and farming industry including recent CAP reform, supermarket dominance, lack of coherent policy, contradictory strategies and government inaction. " Highlights the key issues preventing reconnection with the market such as State Aid Rules, poor Country of Origin labelling, and inadequate marketing expertise " Presents a marketing strategy outlining the practical steps that need to be taken by government and farmers to create a healthy food culture in the UK.

It is unfortunate that farmer-led projects that would help reconnect with the consumer to create a healthy food culture in the UK are blocked by DEFRA under EU State Aid Rules.

Under article 28 of the EU Treaty, these prevent a member state from promoting its own food produce within its home country based on country of origin. In the UK the rules govern £79m of levy money and £200m across the industry per annum.

The report shows how DEFRA's over zealous policing of State Aid Rules is failing to exploit the opportunities taken by many other EU countries. The French government, by contrast, has recently funded a national week celebrating French food in schools, a campaign for home-grown apples and it has registered 135 protected products under the EU's quality assurance scheme, 100 more than in the UK.

In comparison UK farmers suffer from lax country of origin labelling. It is either absent or misleading because it is also allowed on food produced abroad but packed in the UK (e.g. chicken from Thailand and beef from Argentina or Brazil).

This is despite growing consumer interest in provenance, which is linked to a perception of higher animal welfare, environmental and food safety standards in the UK as well as a positive desire to buy British. Clear mandatory country of origin labelling would benefit British farmers by enabling them to promote their higher quality produce and premium price.

The report also outlines how the farming industry needs to increase market share for higher quality farm produce through all routes to market and by stimulating consumer demand. The marketing activity should be on a national and regional level, be consumer facing, and requires government funding to deliver what is needed quickly enough. (2)

The strategy recommendations include:

" A national campaign of consumer awareness including a Food and Farming Fair, a Food and Farming magazine and a schools education programme " A Farmer's Marketing Information Centre to provide consumer market research and to give advice and marketing assistance. " More farmer-led marketing activity including brand development and the establishment of new retail ventures such as farmer supermarkets.

Tenant Farmers Association, chief executive George Dunn said, "The UK's increasing dependency on food from abroad can only be improved by levelling the playing field for British farmers. This is by far the biggest issue facing British agriculture. It certainly was before CAP reform and that has only added to the urgency for the implementation of a new strategy. For the first time the recommendations of this report give us a coherent blueprint for that strategy."

"If more consumers were aware of the stature and provenance of UK beef compared with imports from outside the EU, and more effort was made to make sure they understood this, they would buy more of the home made product," said NBA chief executive, Robert Forster. "This would reinforce the contribution cattle make to good environmental and landscape maintenance within the UK itself, reduce food miles and other serious environmental damage elsewhere, and also make it easier to establish closer links between producer and consumer."

Many in the farming industry broadly welcomed the Curry Commission's report (Jan 2002), which clearly stated the key to solving the problems faced by farmers was the issue of reconnection; reconnect farming with its markets, reconnect the food chain and the countryside and reconnect consumers with what they eat and how it is produced.

While many of the proposals recommended by the Curry Commission have been advanced, there has been little progress yet on this central theme. This report is designed to assist in the development of a strategy to advance the reconnection required for a thriving farming sector.

From January 1 this year, Common Agricultural Policy reform and the removal of decades of direct farm support linked to production obliges all sectors of the farming industry to become market focussed overnight.

At the same time, the current production shift to those areas of the world where food production costs, food quality, and environmental standards are lower than in Britain is unpopular amongst consumers and is resisted by some in Government (1). This report details the many ways in which the farming industry can grow market share and stimulate consumer demand for quality British produce - although only with the assistance of Government.

CONTACTS: George Dunn, Chief executive, Tenant Farmers Association. Tel: 0118 930 6130 or 07721 998 961 Robert Forster, Chief executive, National Beef Association. Tel: 01830 520 131 or 07971 589 772