Retailers have responded that they have put in place a range of measures to aid suppliers and producers through these challenging times. Please see the responses we have received to date below.
Support has ranged from temporary specifications and changes to planned promotional volumes to take into consideration the quality and volume of product that is available. During these difficult times conditions it is vital that retailers commit to long term partnerships where suppliers and customers pull together at times of strain.
The NFU is pleased to see that measures have already been taken and urge retailers to continue to communicate with suppliers to understand the pressures at farm level.
At this stage, we are still awaiting responses from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. As we hear back from these retailers we will update this article.
Response from Lidl
At Lidl, we are committed to supporting British producers and working in a sustainable way with all of our growers. This is all the more important in times of uncertainty, and is why we became signatories of the NFU’s Fruit and Veg Pledge.
We recognise the pressure the continued wet weather is having on our producers and we will continue to work with our supply chains to ensure we stock as much fresh produce from as many British producers as possible. We always strive to be as flexible as possible and recently relaxed specifications on brassica lines, to accommodate the challenges currently being faced. These include Savoy Cabbage and Cauliflower. We have also worked with suppliers to remove planned promotions that are not possible for our producers to deliver on. We continue to be reactive and are planning promotional frameworks to accommodate increased volumes of certain produce.
Response from Morrisons
The months of wet weather and flooded fields have been very challenging for the 200 farmers and growers we work with.
By working closely with our supply base, including linking growers from Cornwall, Lincolnshire and Scotland with each other to share information and help manage harvest and volumes, we have just about been able to maintain the usual high % of British supply we always have.
Additionally, to help farmers get the maximum value from their crop, we have:
- issued temporary specs wherever needed, including for cauliflower, spring greens, leeks and savoy cabbage
- shifted promotional plans to when the crop is harvested and available to sell, for example, leeks are on promotion now as they've finally been able to be harvested
- used our Wonky range including the Wonky veg box to sell through any remaining stocks and return some value to farm
Our changing weather and climate mean that we will continue to work closely and flexibly with farmers and growers as we always have to return the maximum possible value back to them and the crops they supply.
We have also worked with farmers to adjust delivery dates of livestock coming in if farmers have been affected by the flooding.
Response from Asda
Dominic Edwards IPL/ Asda maintains good relations with our suppliers and recognising the dire weather conditions has worked to support our affected growers.
Response from Co-op
At the co-op we are committed to supporting our growers through the challenging conditions.
Across vegetables, salads, fruit and horticulture we have put in measures such as changes to specifications in order to reduce pressure on suppliers. For example this has included reduction in sizing and weight and allowing recipe changes to maintain supply and allow field crops to grow.
In addition, some promotions have been removed from some stores to minimise availability issues and there have been reduced store orders on some UK field crops to reduce pressure on the supply base.
We have been working collaboratively with regional suppliers to cover those areas most affected and are trying to extend contract lengths where possible for vegetables. Additional salad suppliers have been approved to maintain supply across salad crops.
Response from Aldi
The recent weather has been very challenging for our suppliers, to who we have offered some support.
For example:
Root Veg: Swede in particular has been affected by the wet weather meaning the min weight has been hard to achieve. Therefore we have worked with growers to allow half suedes and reduced minimum weights.
Parsnips: We have reduced the crown specification due to wet weather slowing growth.
Potatoes: We have lowered the minimum weight for loose baking potatoes, allowed a larger tolerance for mechanical damage on Red Potatoes and we have added more potato varieties.
Response from M&S
We continue to constantly engage with our Select Farm livestock and produce farmers. We continue to understand their business needs and concerns and respond accordingly to ensure we have long-term sustainabiltiy on our supply base.
We are committed to protecting the M&S family of suppliers.