Week 2 - The Waitrose Challenge

It's week two already and what a busy five days it has been. We've been immersed in yet another week full of inspirational speakers and farm visits here at the Worshipful Company of Farmers 62nd Advanced Agricultural Business Management Course (WCF AA Business Management Course).

One of the main focuses this week has been the 'Waitrose Challenge' which also involved a trip to the Cirencester branch of Waitrose supermarket, followed by a presentation from Duncan Sinclair, Agriculture Manager for Waitrose and Anne Steele, from the Waitrose Primary Producers Group.

The delegates then split into groups of four or five and were given the parameters for the case study to be researched and delivered at the end of the week. The key areas to focus on were based on a series of questions and ideas for us to explore. These included:

1. Factors leading to decline in UK stock numbers
2. What influence common agricultural policy (CAP) will have in the future
3. Climate change
4. Risk management in the supply chain
5. Mechanisms to ensure supply chains have security of supply
6. Retaining producer loyalty. 

The four groups worked well together by identifying each of the members strengths and using them to their advantage. The result was four very different presentations but the common thread among them all was the need for the supermarket to invest as much time into understanding the needs of the producers as they do with their customers. That would in turn create trust between the entire supply chain. The next step could include benchmarking and looking at cost of production and the need for reinvestment to be the basis for the pricing structure throughout the value chain.

Speakers this week included:

• Prof. David Harvey - Professor of Agricultural Economics at Newcastle University. He spoke about future policy prospects and how it looks likely to be centred on 'Public Good'. Prof. Harvey says energy and food prices had dropped in real terms over the past 50 years but will not be the case in the future. 
• Hamish Gow from Massey University NZ presented on value and value chains. Hamish gave the delegates an insight into how to identify consumer needs and turn them into enjoyable and useful experiences for the consumer. A second presentation later in the week saw Hamish speaking about developing business models and strategies. 

Dinners this week were held with the WCF and delegate sponsors and included an entertaining after dinner speech from David Hughes. On Thursday we were joined for dinner by Tony Pexton OBE who is a Nuffield Scholar and spent 20 years with the NFU as a Liveryman with the WCF. Tony also farms in Yorkshire and is involved in many other industry groups.

Finally, following a visit to a Velcourt managed farm on Friday, I am now spending the weekend on Buckminster Estate in Linconshire with farm managers Chris and Nicola Jinks. Chris is on the WCF course too and is responsible for 4500ac of predominanly combinable crops with some grassland. He says this past autumn and winter have been particularly trying, with continued wet weather meaning establishing crops is difficult to say the least. I will attempt to sum up some of the issues from a farming perspective in a later post.