Speciality Food April 2024

12 @specialityfood In response to ongoing campaigning by the UK farming unions, a government consultation found unfair practices within the supply chain, linked to buyers having the power to set andmodify the terms of a contract with no negotiation with the producer and little notification. The new regulations, a commitment set out at the Prime Minister’s Farm to Fork Summit last year, will establish transparency and accountability across the dairy supply chain by stopping contract changes being imposed without agreement. There will also be a system in place to enable farmers to verify the calculation of variable prices. The regulations also include an enforcement regime, backed up by the ability for the Secretary of State to impose substantial financial penalties in respect of any breaches. NFU dairy board chair Michael Oakes said, “It became clear to us back in 2012 that the voluntary code of practice still left many dairy farmers open to unfair practices and abuses of power, so [this] marks a significant step in a long road of campaigning by the NFU and the other farming unions to improve fairness across the supply chain. “For a long time, unfair milk contracts have held backmany UK dairy businesses, and these changes will help give dairy farmers much needed business security and confidence. While progress has taken far longer than any of us hoped and expected, I am confident that we are finally on the right path to building a stronger, more resilient future for the UK dairy sector. Notwithstanding the progress that is beingmade, the NFU believes that representative organisations, such as producer organisations, will play an important role in helping farmers negotiate contracts within the dairy sector and we will continue to support the development of representative structures like these to help improve trust and collaboration across the supply chain. “We will continue to work with government and the wider dairy industry to not only benefit farm businesses and the dairy supply chain, but the millions of people who value access to quality, sustainable, nutritious Britishmilk and other dairy products on a daily basis.” NFU Scotlandmilk committee chair Bruce Mackie said, “NFU Scotland and the other farming unions have been pushing for contract reform since 2011 and welcome the bringing forward of legislation to regulate dairy contracts. This has been a key Unions welcome new dairy legislation More than a decade on from the NFU’s SoS Dairy Campaign, and UK farming unions first calling out what they said were unfair practices and abuses of power in the supply chain, new legislation being laid in Parliament will ensure fair contracts for dairy farmers in the UK. F antastically, huge amount of coverage supporting Mrs Kirkham’s Cheeses over the past months has flooded the artisan airwaves, and crucially it has made its way into the mainstreammedia too. I suspect this has been because of the gallows gaze of journos chasing the potential story of another ‘deadly cheese’ ruining Christmas - did someone say ‘raw’? I hold huge respect for the infrastructure that pre-empts and protects our communities from issues arising from what we eat, but once again, it does illustrate the potential damage to individuals, families and our sector. However, perhaps more importantly, the full story has underlined the strength of the comradery within the speciality food and drink world, that so many rallied round, and support of all kinds has worked through this period. With due process completed (illustrating that initial considerations were unfounded) and a clean bill of health delivered, still the impact has to be considered. I remember growing up, and how the health checks and the teams that brought them were so feared. There was a real tension – ‘they are out to get us!’ That has evolved over the past decades, step by step, as our sector has been more valued, and state practitioners understand their roles to protect the community. Being there to support best practice, and so allowing us to cherish these hugely important social currencies together, each of us playing our role correctly. Yes, the potential damage done to a cheesemaker can be huge as the process kicks off, but managed effectively and with the support from our community, the natural, correct conclusion occurs and cements the value of the process, and the very product that was at the heart of it… narrative-rich, delicious cheese. It is a concern that we are seeing impacts to potential food checks and controls through Brexit and economic degradation, resulting in fewer eyes on the game. It does mean that the responsibility sits evermore squarely with us as an SME cohort. Best practice and support has to be shared. STEFANO CUOMO MACKNADE We strive to keep these narrative- rich touch points, yes because they are delicious, but also because they are living icons ‘Stories are our raisond’etre’ As the independent, speciality sector we are the librarians and gatekeepers of our people’s stories, we are the guardians of the shared social identity. Businesses gain scale by stepping up into the larger channels, essential to drive our economy, but these large channels are the first to drop anything that sits out of the easily manageable norm. We strive to keep these narrative-rich touch points, yes because they are delicious, but also because they are living icons of who we are and how we live. The tactile process of gathering milk, produced from the land, remains the same, as farming methods change around it. The making of the young cheese, again running through real hands, leading through to it ageing in the very land from which it grew, is so hugely powerful in balancing the human and the natural, reminding us of generational truths. Walking through racks of cheese in affineurs’ cellars, each of the ‘rounds’ is an instance in time, perfectly captured, nurtured and cared for, to then be passed on, to deliver its moment of reality to the future, and with it all it held on to. Not just a nostalgia, but the reality of the very time in which it was created – portals to our passing existence, reminding us of the fragility of the future and why we must protect it. The prosaic spirituality of continuity is through the sharing of stories…our food and the produce we have shaped from our land enhances and captures these shared narratives, passing on their importance from person to person, family to family, generation to generation. As shopkeepers, mongers and stall holders we protect those that nurture and steward these stories, without this network these embodiments, talismans, of who we are, would faulter and disappear, and the stories they hold with in them too. Risk is so essential. It stimulates thought, it makes us assess the importance to us of all that is around us, of who we are and what we do; it pushes us to hold on to what is really important, no matter what…and why it is so important. I don’t want to be categorised by bland, block, plastic-wrapped generics…for me it is the living, breathing, mould-ripening cheeses of our territories, with the suggestion of risk, that represent us and our stories and I want to share that forward…oh and they taste amazing too! ask of the industry for many years. There will be a long road ahead and statutory contract legislation on its own will not solve all our problems. “However, for too long, dairy farmers have had very little influence or power with regards to the terms under which they sell their milk, but they now have an opportunity to come together andmake the most of what this legislation offers by way of strengthening their hand. “We will continue to work with the UK Government, other farming unions and the dairy industry in supporting our dairy farmers using this legislation to make their businesses more sustainable, progressive and create fairness in the supply chain.” Ulster Farmers Union dairy chair Kenny Hawkes added, “It is a major milestone following years of immense lobbying alongside the UK unions, that new legislation is being laid in Parliament to achieve more fairness and transparency in the dairy supply chain. “The new regulations will go a long way to enhancing the position of the primary producer by establishing a legally binding, minimum standards of contractual practice, while also providing businesses withmuch needed certainty in terms of their supply agreement with processors. It will help to build a stronger, more resilient future for the Northern Ireland dairy sector, so farming families can continue to produce high-qualitymilk.” NFU Cymru dairy board chair JonathanWilkinson said: “The introduction of this legislation represents a massive step forward and is a once in a generation opportunity to change the way the dairy supply chain operates."