If you didn’t already know, it is British Flowers Week; a celebration of the fantastic British plants and flowers industry and the growers that supply them. What better time, then, to get out on farm and see how it all happens?
This week, I joined a tour of Co-op suppliers in Lincolnshire and heard about the positive impacts a new 3-year Co-op deal was for their growers. The deal offers the growers the confidence to invest and plan for the future growth of their business. Of course, for many businesses, they are already planning for the next ten or twenty years, not just three, but this is a step in the right direction and was clearly welcomed by the Co-op suppliers.
Our hort adviser Lee talking about some of the challenges facing British flowers growers for #BritishFlowersWeek including access to seasonal labour. (Turn your volume up, its a bit windy!) pic.twitter.com/cWP7XjoKQD
— NationalFarmersUnion (@NFUtweets) 21 June 2018
The tour consisted of three farm visits; one to a smaller scale flower nursery which produces around 3 million flowers both indoor and out; a grower/packer that delivers over 50 million cut stems for retailers; and a large scale packer that produces around 40% of the total British tulip supply, amongst many other popular and niche plants and flowers.
With only around 10% of cut flowers sold in the UK being British grown, there is a massive opportunity to deliver growth in the sector. The NFU has long been calling for longer term commitments from major retailers in order to provide the security and the confidence for growers to expand their businesses and invest in the latest technology. The three year deal from the Co-op is a great step forward. What we also need to see is greater collaboration across the supply chain so that programmes reflect growing cycles, promotions are flexible enough to take into account fluctuations in supply and demand, open communications so that growers understand their customers needs and buyers can understand the challenges growers face, and commitments to increasing the proportion of British plants and flowers sold.
There is much to be proud of in this sector, but with Brexit around the corner it is more critical than ever to ensure we have a robust, sustainable and profitable supply chain that can meet the demands of our consumers and shares the risks and rewards that come with it.