RETAIL expert Ged Futter, director at The Retail Mind, is encouraging the agricultural sector to challenge supermarket and distributor demands for low-cost products.

Speaking ahead of addressing delegates on day one of NFU Scotland’s conference in Glasgow, Mr. Futter said: “The future is exciting for Scottish farmers and growers, but it starts with one word, ‘no’.”

In his presentation, Mr Futter hopes to inspire farmers and crofters to work with consumers to build a stronger supply chain. Mr. Futter states: “The 2024 Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) Report firmly states that the practice of farmers subsidising consumers’ appetite for cheap food cannot continue.

“After years of ‘permacrisis’ fuelled by Brexit, the Ukrainian conflict, the Covid-19 pandemic, and inflation running up to 20%, farming’s confidence and bank balances are at an all-time, unsustainable, low.

“Recent events have acted as catalysts that have exposed pre-existing and fundamental weaknesses in the supply chain. The level of risk is at all-time high. Risk versus reward came up consistently in the report for farmers and growers, concluding that with the risk versus reward ratio so far out of kilter, more farmers are asking if is it worth producing food.

“Widely, retailers get a bad press but, as I was told on a number of occasions, the most sustainable and efficient distribution model is ‘retail to consumer’ and that the UK has probably the highest standards of production in the world. The further you move away from the UK, the lower those standards can become and the bigger the food safety risk, as well as the food security risk.

“One industry expert explained how trust has been eroded between the farming sector and retailers. The analogy used was that ‘The current negotiation landscape is the equivalent of Premier League footballers playing against a pub team that complains when they lose 38-0 that the other team didn’t play fair!’

“The retailers have become more sophisticated at finding ways of getting better prices and most farmers, growers and packers have not kept up.

“There is an answer, and it starts by saying ‘no.’ What will you say ‘no’ to? Are you getting your business ready for the future? Is it a future based on current opportunities or future ones?

“Scotland has two things which mean it is well set for the future. Firstly, an abundance of water. Scotland has around 19,000 km of coastline, which makes up 8% of Europe’s coast. Covering about 2% of Scotland's land area, rivers and lochs contain 90% of the UK’s surface freshwater. Access to water will be crucial for future farming.

“Secondly, Scotland is already a world class exporter. Scottish salmon is the UK's top food export, with sales worth £578 million in 2022 with Scotch whisky exports up 37% to exceed £6bn in 2022. What will be next? Farmers and growers need to make sure they are part of it.

“The future is exciting for Scottish farmers and growers, but it starts with one word, ‘no’.”