Speciality-Food-Magazine-March-2025

10 @specialityfood I t is easy to despair when thinking about the green agenda. A climate change denier is in the White House, global temperatures are reaching levels that exceed previously agreed targets, and there is an ever-growing list of record- breaking natural disasters filling our news feeds. In addition to this, corporations across the board seem to be stepping back from “unnecessary initiatives” that their critics call woke and people like me call vital. So why do I not despair? It comes down to a simple thought: generally, humans are selfish. They look for products that deliver on their immediate needs. If you review any food preferences research that explores why consumers buy particular food products, you will find ‘taste’ tops ‘sustainability’ every time. On top of that, personal health also tops sustainability. However, the reality is that embracing the green agenda can lead to products that deliver well on these consumer needs. To create a truly successful product it needs to taste great, be better for you and often, this comes with cleaner labels and more naturally produced ingredients. You don’t need to sell it as being sustainable; it is just sustainable as it is designed well. This has been called the ‘Food Trifecta,’ admittedly a betting phrase, but if you can create a product that is green, delicious and good for you, you have, in my view, landed a true trifecta. Is it not best to strive OLLIE LLOYD CONSULTANT “The food trifecta” to design products that deliver on all fronts? The meats that come from the Knepp Estate are a case in point. They have been some of the pioneers of the rewilding movement and are obsessed with creating biodiversity and adopting regenerative farming practices that are in harmony with nature. Their slow-grown wild-range meat is produced on an organic 3500-acre farm, a biodiversity hotspot. They have free-roaming herds of Old English Longhorn cattle, Tamworth pigs, and Red and Fallow deer that have a herb-rich natural diet and can be spotted on their safaris. They also claim that “because their diet is entirely natural, the meat is positively good for human health.” They claim high inclusions of omega-3 and CLA which are said to help combat cancer and diabetes. They also note that the meats are high in beta carotene and vitamins E & B, high in calcium, magnesium and potassium, and low in saturated fats. Yeo Valley is another example of a business thinking far beyond organic dairy products, which they pioneered and focused on a much broader set of considerations. They are constantly innovating their product range and have recently created an exceptional set of kefir products. It’s fair to say that some of the early kefirs were a tad funky, but the stuff being produced by Yeo Valley are utterly delicious and great for your gut. I have even got my kids to drink them, which they certainly didn’t do with some of the goatkKefirs I brought home many years ago! So as we all think about how to do our bit for the green agenda, do not give up hope. Often, it just requires buying products produced by smaller brands that naturally focus on the trifecta without being told about it. And hopefully they keep inspiring bigger brands to embark on this journey. 3 Be proud of your provenance – Each stallholder should have either been grown or produced, baked or made by the stallholders at your market. 4 Understand your product(s) – Stallholders should be able to talk to customers about how the product has been produced fromfield to fork and give customers accurate advice and clear information on how the product has been created. 5 Be correctly insured – All traders must have suitable Public, Product and Employment Insurance in place to protect their customers. 6 Follow the correct legal procedures – All traders and markets must follow all relevant national and local laws, and as a minimum ensure that each trader is The certification has been refreshed in order to provide consumers with a greater understanding of what a true farmers market is. A true farmers market provides a valuable route to market for thousands of farmers across the UK, and in order to be certified as a Farmers Market there are eight key principles that must be met: 1 Champion the farmers – customers should be able to buy directly from the farmers, growers and producers who grow and produce the products on sale. 2 Prioritise local produce – It’s important to recruit stall holders from as close to the market as possible and the majority of stallholders come fromwithin the county in which the market is located. FRA relaunches ‘Real Farmers Market’ certification The FarmRetail Association has relaunched its ‘Real Farmers Market’ certification scheme in order to provide clarity and consistency to the sector. registered with Trading Standards and Environmental Health. 7 Promote yourself as ‘Real Farmers Market’ – Be proud to fulfil these principles and shout about it in your communications, clearly talking to customers about the farmers, suppliers and products that make it a ‘Real Farmers Market’. 8 Enforce the above principles – The market organiser should have systems in place to ensure that the above principles are enforced at all times. Emma Mosey, chair of the FRA, said, “It is vital that there is an industry standard for Farmers Markets in the UK so customers can be sure of the provenance and locality of the produce. Once a Farmers Market has demonstrated their credentials and been awarded certification, the FRAwill commit to promoting the Farmers Market inmany ways including a logo on eachmarkets web page, an opportunity to be entered in the annual FRA awards, inclusion in press releases and on social media.”