PROFILE Fairfields Farm “
The way the Co-op operates and trades ethically towards its suppliers is in line with how we think business should be done
redesigned share bags and grab bags, and thicker packaging for longer shelf life – are supplied to the food service industry and in- dependent retailers.
Each week 50t of potatoes are used to produce Fairfields Farm crisps
cal provenance to East Anglia,” says Robert. “We started production in 2007 and for the first three or four years had someone else making the crisps for us. Then we built our own factory and packhouse in 2011/12 with an EADA grant and, later, a Leader grant, to help with machinery, bagging and frying. “As we’ve evolved we’ve be- come not just a local producer: we’re supplying national and in- ternational markets.”
Accreditation
Turnover has nearly doubled in the past 18 months, in part by achieving AA standard accredita- tion with the British Retail Con- sortium, creating new opportuni- ties for Fairfields Farm to produce crisps for co-packers and super- market own-label lines. It’s also helped develop export markets, the bulk of them outside Europe, which now account for 20 % of sales. “It was a big commitment for a
business of our size, and it took us a year to get the systems in place – for example, changing the flavour system in the factory so that the cleaning regime was BRC compli- ant – and employing the right staff with technical training.
46 ANGLIA FARMER • AUGUST 2018
“But we knew it would open up new growth opportunities: ex- porters see BRC accreditation as a world-renowned standard mean- ing ‘safe, trustworthy and premi- um’.”
Buying another crisp company,
Ten Acre, earlier this year has also contributed to growth. Production of the ‘free from’, vegan and kosher brand has moved from Ireland to the farm, and markets in the UK and abroad are being developed.
Marketing At home, rather than the big su- permarkets, Fairfields Crisps – now with eight flavours in newly
The farm also offers a delivery service to pubs, restaurants and independent retailers within a 40- mile radius, and a next-day na- tionwide courier service. The East of England Co-op has been an important customer since day one: “The way the Co-op oper- ates and trades ethically towards its suppliers is in line with how we think business should be done. “It is important to have a pres- ence with the multiple retailers, though, as they do take the lion’s share of crisps sold in the UK, so we supply them with anoth- er brand, JackPots, and our new Heat and Eat crisps that can be warmed in a microwave oven.” Fairfields Farm works with grower group East Suffolk Pro- duce, something Robert sees as very important to his business now and moving forward. Work- ing together means there’s a pool of growers’ land and continuity of supply.
Brexit challenges Supply of labour, however, is creat- ing difficulties: “In terms of labour, Brexit has had a really negative effect on our business, adding re- cruitment and training costs. We have 40 permanent staff here, a lot of them historically from eastern
Europe, who live in and are part of the local community.
But we also use a lot of harvest
labour, and before the referendum there was a good flow of good quali- ty people. Now they are not coming over in anything like the numbers they were. It’s daunting enough [coming to work in another coun- try] without wondering, will I be welcome, will I be wanted. “Some farmers who don’t use
much labour might not appreciate that – but the impact on business- es like strawberry growers and so on, they’re really feeling the pain, and some of that production might leave the UK. Here, we’ll have to look to more automated systems for grading and packing potatoes.” The crisp packet redesign fea- tures a new strapline, ‘handcooked potato crisps made with renew- able energy’, marking the devel- opment of an anaerobic digester on the farm. Contracted to supply all the feedstock for the plant, two thirds of the gas produced goes to the national grid main, and the rest is converted to electricity to power the farm’s cold store and factory. “We can have a broader rota- tion now – before it was mostly wheat, with potatoes one year in five. Now potatoes, rye and maize are the main crops, with wheat as a break crop. That, and spring cropping, should help us control grass weeds a bit better, and ex- tend the potato rotation to one year in six.
“This is our first year of spread- ing digestate from the plant, and it should condition the soil and supply all our fertiliser require- ment on this farm and for some potatoes grown locally, so it’s quite significant. It’s really important to give back to the soil, and, look- ing to the next generation, to pass on the farm in a better state than when we took it on.”
BUSINESS FACTS
• Potato grower • On-farm packhouse • Crisp factory • AD plant
CONTACT
Two thirds of the gas produced by the farm’s AD plant goes to the national grid main, and the rest is converted to electricity to power the cold store and crisp factory
T: 01206 241613 E:
hello@fairfieldsfarmcrisps.co.uk W:
fairfieldsfarmcrisps.co.uk
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