• Welcome to The Farming Forum!

    As part of this update, we have made a change to the login and registration process. If you are experiences any problems, please email [email protected] with the details so we can resolve any issues.

i thought Mr Dyson only made vacuum cleaners

thesilentone

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cumbria
Quite shocking that we throw away more than the UK's total produciton:

Long-term trends

Home production of vegetables contributed to around 54% of the total UK supply in 2016, 4.6% lower than in 2015. "Over the last 20 years total production of vegetables remains fairly constant between 2.5 and three million tonnes," the report notes, though production was higher in the previous decade. Meanwhile, throughout this time, almost without exception, volumes of imported vegetables have increased steadily year-on-year and now stand at more than three times the figure 30 years ago.


Home fruit production, on the other hand, has been increasing steadily over the past 15 years after a prolonged period of decline, and although 2016’s figure of 777,000 tonnes represents a slight dip on the previous year it is still almost three times higher than 2003’s historic low of 271,000 tonnes.


At this low point, UK growers were supplying just 8.5% of the home market, and although 2016’s figure for fresh produce self-sufficiency slipped a little due to lower volumes, 17.2% is still twice that 2003 share.


Together these point to an overall figure of UK self-sufficiency of 36.5% — down two percentage points on 2015. So has the NFU’s campaigning to boost UK fresh produce self-sufficiency been in vain? Not entirely — since the publication of the initial Catalyst for Change report in 2012, a year in which UK self-sufficiency fell to a historic low of 32.7%, this figure rose in each of the three subsequent years. Returning to the days of more than 50% self-sufficiency, as was the case before 1995, still seems a distant prospect, however.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
That’s not farm waste it’s supermarket greed

Why is being selective about what one will retail 'Supermarket Greed'? Genuine question. Supermarket is the farmers customer. If I am a retailer and my market research says my customers want X and you were my supplier and I said my contract specification is X and I will pay Y for it then that is the contract. If your crop produces some to small, some to fat, so not X then that is your issue not mine, why should it be mine?? You can find an alternative market. Put another way BMW produce cars and you contract to purchase a certain model, but the factory produces a few with bent fenders that do not quite fit metal - would you say yeah fine I will take it, or go to another car showroom with a non bent car? Comment?
 

turbo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
lincs
Why is being selective about what one will retail 'Supermarket Greed'? Genuine question. Supermarket is the farmers customer. If I am a retailer and my market research says my customers want X and you were my supplier and I said my contract specification is X and I will pay Y for it then that is the contract. If your crop produces some to small, some to fat, so not X then that is your issue not mine, why should it be mine?? You can find an alternative market. Put another way BMW produce cars and you contract to purchase a certain model, but the factory produces a few with bent fenders that do not quite fit metal - would you say yeah fine I will take it, or go to another car showroom with a non bent car? Comment?
Because they stop you selling to other customers(only going to stock feed) and in years of plenty they reject more,your car quote doesn’t hold water as fruit and veg are grown outside and the weather can play havoc with the standards were as car parts are manufactured in factories to set standards
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
Just because it’s not straight doesn’t mean it’s not perfect to eat

Indeed perfectly OK to eat and I take full advantage of Morrisons Wonky offer - but I have spent some time in my local Morrisons watching folk make purchases - and few apart from me pick up the cheaper (much cheaper) Wonky veg. So that would suggest to me Morrisons management is correct in insisting on 'perfect' fruit and veg to sell - and expect their suppliers to supply as such.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
Because they stop you selling to other customers(only going to stock feed) and in years of plenty they reject more,your car quote doesn’t hold water as fruit and veg are grown outside and the weather can play havoc with the standards were as car parts are manufactured in factories to set standards

I selected the car analogy as I knew you would come back saying that farmers should be given more lenience due to not operating in a factory environment. But that is not the point. And the 'chuck outs' can still be sold by the farmer - just he has to market those items which his intended market will not accept. And as commodity producer such is life. Hey ho I will stop semi supporting supermarkets now as I suspect I will become persona non grata. Hey ho.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
Because they stop you selling to other customers(only going to stock feed) and in years of plenty they reject more,your car quote doesn’t hold water as fruit and veg are grown outside and the weather can play havoc with the standards were as car parts are manufactured in factories to set standards

Do they stop you sell to other customers?
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
As far as I am aware the supermarkets never stopped second trade product elsewhere.
We did have protests from Oxfam that this material was being sold, as we did with onions, into west Africa and the Caribbean. Apparently we were undercutting local producers.
The truth is that any material going in to a supermarket in loose boxes the customer will always take the biggest first and never any not perfect. The customer at the end of the day will never be happy with the small blemished material even if they are going to skin it before cooking.
Perish the thought they open up a prepack bag and find 4 non identical spud/ onions/ carrots etc.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
On farm wastage should reduce a bit now that supermarkets are selling 'wonky parsnips' as such.

But that is no use to the industry - or is it?! Those Wonky veg take away sales of higher sale price 'good veg' yet the supermarket overhead cost of providing shelf space is same for Wonky as Good thus someone in the supply chain has to foot the reduced turnover per unit of sale. So when I pick up a 1kg bag of 'Wonky' carrots for 50 pence rather than £1 the only winner is me - the consumer. As there retailer (Morrisons) has only 50pence income yet the same costs as the £1 alternative that I have overlooked. The packhouse and haulage to depot same cost as a 50 pence and £1 sale value pack occupy same space and weight. Hey ho.
 
Last edited:

How is your SFI 24 application progressing?

  • havn't been invited to apply

    Votes: 29 37.2%
  • have been invited to apply

    Votes: 13 16.7%
  • applied but not yet accepted

    Votes: 28 35.9%
  • agreement up and running

    Votes: 8 10.3%

Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

  • 2,394
  • 49
On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

This webinar will be...
Back
Top