NFU16: Will the markets pay for green credentials?

That was the question put to panellists during the environment workshop at the #NFU16 conference.

Andrew Burgess of Produce World and Richard Clothier of Wyke Farms told delegates how they were making their 'green' credentials pay by using them as a tool to promote their goods in the marketplace.

Quentin Clark of Waitrose said that technology meant people have more data at their fingertips, but farmers have to make sure the information they have is accurate. He said that brands and assurance schemes provide the trust that consumers who are less engaged rely on to ensure their values are being met. And that these credentials provide brand protection for companies.

Mr Clothier, whose Wyke Farms cheese brand has won many sustainability awards, said that profitability is the key to sustainability and that we need to accept the fact that 'green' is normal because consumers care about it.

Mr Burgess said that the organic market was on the up after taking a dip in the wake of the financial downturn and now 25% of his output is now organic. But there was a reluctance among some farmers to take a chance on an organic system.

He said: "You don't have to convert the whole farm to organic in one go; have a go, do a bit, learn about it. I first started organic farming in 1997 as a result of having my arm up my back from a colleague of Quentin's. I supplied all the convention carrots into Waitrose at the time and he said to me, if you don't do organic you need to worry about the rest of your business. So I did it under protest."

Mr Clothier said that there was increasing demand for organic from the US, which its own producers cannot meet, and he wanted single point of origin labelling so that UK producers could promote their credentials more clearly.