Speaking at the Worshipful Society of Fruiterers conference this week, Ms Capper said that even though growers are facing continuing downward price pressures and uncertainty from Brexit, the drive to improve the sector has never been greater.
Ali said: “While there are still so many unknowns with how the UK will cope outside of the EU, fruit growers have an opportunity to improve food security, reduce trade deficits and improve biosecurity, but only if the right policies for trade and labour are in place.
“There are between 250-300,000 permanent workers in farming and processing that are a combination of EU and non-EU citizens, but an estimated 95,000 more seasonal workers will be needed by 2021.
“Where will those workers come from? How can growers plan and resource their seasonal workforce over the next two years of uncertainty? These are some of the questions we are asking the Government to respond to.
“Free movement of people is currently tightly interlinked with free trade, so Brexit could also represent an interesting opportunity for the UK, as only food destined for export would have to meet the EU standards. This is a chance to bring new ideas into UK production and one that as a fruit and hops farmer I would welcome.”
As well as Ali Capper’s presentation, the NFU was also represented by Deputy President Minette Batters at the event, who chaired a panel discussion on the potential impacts of a changing climate on fruit growers.
- The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers,which has been in existence since before 1300 AD, is among the oldest Livery Companies in the City of London.
- The company aims to develop its research and educational programmes for the fruit industry and provide fruit for the homeless through the allocation of sponsorship funds.
- The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers is influential in informed debate of the most topical issues in food preparation and distribution.