UFU Concerned that the Horticulture Supply Chain is Failing our Local Vegetable Producers

Oct 12, 2012

OVER the recent months our UFU Vegetable Committee have highlighted the continued pressures and challenges within their vegetable supply chain. On exploring this further it became evident that these pressures were not unique to Northern Ireland.

The NFU launched their report ‘Catalyst for Change’ suggesting better ways of doing business in the Horticulture and potatoes sector earlier this year. NFU Chairman Sarah Dawson travelled to Northern Ireland, visited a number of local producers and presented the findings and recommendation from the report at a special Horticulture event in Greenmount Campus (CAFRE).

The UFU Vegetable Committee have reviewed the report and discussed the importance of delivering a charter for best business practice in the fresh produce sector. ‘The Fruit and Veg Pledge’ will promote best business practice and improve relationships and balance risk between retailers, intermediaries and growers. The pledge clearly sets out the behaviour and commitment that the supply chain must aspire to if it is to achieve a vision of a productive and profitable horticulture sector.

Our UFU Vegetable Growers welcomed the pledge, as it gives opportunity for the grower to highlight their commitment and ability to produce the highest quality, traceable and farm assured fresh fruit and vegetables that consumers increasingly demand.

The NFU report highlights ‘a lack of trust and confidence’ within the supply chain as the most significant factor impacting on the horticulture sector’s performance. Several examples of poor practice were exposed, which have been identified through first hand discussions between growers and intermediaries operating across all sectors of horticulture. These included concern about over riders, verbal margin agreements, a lack of price certainty and late payment. The report highlights how many of these issues and practices constitute a breach of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).

The UFU vegetable committee reaffirm that the continuation of this situation could lead to fewer local vegetables on the supermarket shelves for consumers to buy, allowing for higher levels of imported produce, less product choice and innovation, ultimately extending to higher food prices in the longer term.

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Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.