Potato growers and suppliers hold vital summit
It's good to talk . . . and listen. A potato summit has improved understanding of challenges faced by all in the potato supply chain, writes Potato Council director Rob Clayton.
Oversupply in 2011 followed by the shortest season in over 35 years in 2012 have created numerous trade tensions along the supply chain and brought some longstanding industry issues home to roost.
By Christmas, the Potato Council Board decided that a safe environment in which to air a whole host of challenges and start to agree how to work together better to put sustainable GB potato production back on the map was needed.
Potato Council brought together representatives from retail, farming unions, trade bodies, government, packers, processors, food service and growers to help future-proof the potato supply chain.
The key and stark observation was that the potato industry simply doesn't talk or listen enough. So although we all work with the same product, knowledge of what everybody does and what pressures they face is poor along the supply chain.
For instance, growers didn't realise how precious the floor space afforded to potatoes in supermarkets really was and the continuous energy required to entice in recession-weary consumers with healthy, quick and imaginative meal ideas was also a surprise to many.
Meanwhile, some of the food services and retail businesses weren't aware of the crisis looming on farms where cash is desperately required to bring issues like storage and water management up to scratch.
For growers, current contract terms and conditions simply didn't provide the peace of mind to trigger reinvestment. Many of the next generation of growers are tempted to opt for lower risk crops like cereals and maize.
For supply chains, squeezed at both ends, listening, talking and understanding were going to be vital.
Many in industry would benefit fromour existing range of of products and activities that provide solutions to many of the challenges featured at the summit.
The Potato Industry is on the brink of an opportunity as GB's population increases,
But without collective and concerted industry action, the future will feature growers shifting to lower risk crops like cereals and maize, reliance on imported potatoes and a steady and painful erosion of all the support from crop protection, machinery manufacture and GB's science base.
