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Working closely with farmers and growers

Tesco explained that it has long-term contracts in place with its fruit and veg producers to ensure costs are agreed before crops are planted, helping to instil confidence to plant into the next season.

The retailer is also working closely with producers on emerging agri-tech advancements and ways to mitigate future costs in their production processes.

As with many of the retailers, Tesco have committed to the GCA's seven golden rules when it comes to CPI (Cost Price Increase) requests. Moving forward it's said it wants to hold more open conversations with farmers and growers, to share its vision and align on growth strategies.

A member of Tesco's agriculture team has attended previous board meetings and will be coming to the next NFU Horticulture board meeting in January.

A key priority for Tesco in 2023 will be to conduct a review of its range tiering to gain clarity on what and why consumers are buying, with the ultimate objective of informing long-term strategies and building supply partnerships.

Labour and energy addressed

Asda has supported its egg suppliers with the rising cost of feed through its trackers and has ensured that labour and energy are also addressed, despite these elements not being factored into existing trackers.

The retailer invited the NFU’s food business unit to meet with IPL (International Procurement Logistics) who manage the supply of all its fresh produce, to better understand the relationship and the work it's doing to support producers.

This is a vital opportunity to improve the NFU's understanding of the relationships in the horticulture supply chain.

Managing inflation

Sainsbury's has one of the largest agriculture teams with more than 10 people, demonstrating its commitment to get close to the detail in each sector.

Working with suppliers to manage inflation has been a top priority over the last 12 months. The retailer has developed commercial models with horticulture growers and is in the process of reviewing and developing more relevant models with egg suppliers.

Sainsbury's is looking at the most efficient supply routes and wants to work directly with selected producers to optimise efficiencies and improve transparency where possible.

The main objective is to get closer with its supply base and arrange more face-to-face meetings with egg producers to better understand the challenges they're facing and communicate the proactive work the retailer is doing.

Sainsbury's is speaking at producer meetings and their agriculture manager who leads on eggs has offered to meet with our poultry members to share more detail on Sainsbury’s approach.

Committed to British produce

Aldi has expressed an ongoing commitment to UK produce and has sold over 37,000 tonnes more of UK fruit and veg in 2022 than it did in 2021.

Where beneficial it offers long-term contracts to support long-term relationships with growers, and to help them with expansion and investment opportunities.

Open discussions are vital

The Co-op continues to prioritise long-term partnerships as this is key to its vision to co-operate for a ‘fairer world’.

The retailer has regular dialogue with all supply partners and agrees that open and clear discussions are vital.

Its commercial and technical teams work in close contact and undertake face-to-face visits to build knowledge, grow relationships and be able to understand the impact of business decisions on its suppliers.

Open dialogue

Morrisons has committed to maintaining an open dialogue with all of its producers helped by its uniquely integrated supply chain.

The retailer has been in communication with its growers to support with CPI requests and ensure that all opportunities for long-term supply investment are captured and followed up.

There are a number of initiatives in place with egg producers in addition to four new farms who will be coming on board to supply carbon friendly eggs in 2023.

Sainsbury's popular Christmas advert also showcases British agriculture and features one of its farmers and was a success once again this Christmas.

Championing sustainability

Waitrose has featured farmers in their Christmas advertising campaign with British farming continuing to be at the heart of what it champions.

Its made significant investments during 2022 including supporting its pig, egg and dairy farmers. It's also worked with growers to relax specifications to support with drought affected crops.

Waitrose recognises the importance of supporting British farmers and recognises the importance of farmers having a sustainable future as they are a vital part of its offer to customers.

Practical approach

Lidl says it has continuous dialogue with its growers and has been taking a practical and tailored approach to ensuring the continued supply of fresh British produce.

It was the first retailer to offer support for growers following the on-going drought which allowed constructive dialogue between commercial teams and its supply chain. As well as this it moved to a weekly pricing model for berry growers to remain adaptive during differing crop and weather conditions.