The Challenge

The Tamar Valley has a long tradition of fruit and vegetable production. Though competition from overseas has been pressuring local producers since the 1950s, there is still demand for local produce. Meat production is significant but Tamar Grow Local considered there to be insufficient capacity to meet demand for fruit and vegetables.

Tamar Valley food supply chains are dominated by supermarkets, with international supply chains, and regional wholesalers, who primarily source from larger local suppliers. Mid-scale producers are rare; the supply networks are not able to support entrants to the market and there is a lack of incentives for small-scale producers to scale-up.

A possible solution to this mismatch between local produce demand and supply was identified – to pilot a wholesale food supply model which helps bridge the gap between micro-businesses and large producers. By operating as a not-for-profit, producers retain more of their profits, and by pre-selling produce, the costs of unsold or wasted produce does not have to be passed onto producers. By widening the range of production and distribution methods, the resilience of the local food production system can be strengthened, and there is a clearer career path for new or expanding producers.

The Solution

Pilot Study Method

The pilot supplied to both ‘high volume – limited diversity’ markets, such as educational caterers, and ‘low volume – high diversity’ markets, such as pubs, cafes and events catering.

Suppliers were drawn from TGL’s existing Retail Food Hub. Informal interviews were used to identify production practices which result in both food production and environmental benefits.

Pilot Study Findings

School caterers were highly price sensitive and were difficult to supply due to the difference in timings between seasonal vegetable production and school term-time. They also tended to buy a limited range of low value vegetables.

In contrast, events caterers, pubs and cafes tended to be less price-sensitive and were more concerned with quality and local provenance, as this added value and was beneficial to their business.

The food hub also supplied mixed bags of vegetables to Plymouth City Council and a large housing association, as part of separately funded projects to address food poverty and increase engagement with local food. This was identified as an ideal market for start-up businesses as it offers a guaranteed demand over 18 months. It also helped to identify gaps in local provision which could be filled by new or expanding producers.

Environmental Benefits

WRT supplied food hub suppliers, via TGL, with information on farming best practice to protect water quality. In informal interviews, these suppliers also discussed the following activities as those they undertake in order to reduce their environmental impacts or improve environmental conditions:

Lessons Learnt

Qualitative data on the challenges and opportunities of providing local food to various market sectors was analysed in a detailed project report. In particular, it was clear that there is demand for local food of high quality and known provenance, but challenges remain regarding the consistency of both supply and demand.

Improvements to the wholesale food hub model have been identified and include: supplementing local produce with regional produce to improve continuity of supply; further engagement projects to raise awareness of seasonality; developing online ordering software to increase efficiency; promote the added value and unique selling point opportunities surrounding Tamar Valley food; and encourage the use of protected cropping to extend the local season. These lessons have been taken into consideration in an Action Plan to expand the wholesale food hub from a pilot stage to a full-scale project.

The project strengthened ties between TGL and WRT, members of the Catchment Partnership, which has enabled further collaboration in other projects. For example, the My Tamar engagement campaign lead by WRT was advertised via TGL’s retail food hub, extending the reach of the campaign. This collaborative work is vital for the success of the Catchment-Based Approach.