The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Daffies for Amsterdam
Co-op sends bulbs and potatoes around the world
Angus-based farmers co-operative Grampian Growers (GG) exports its products to more than two dozen countries around the world.
Around 40% of its total annual output of daffodil flowers and bulbs and potatoes for seed and consumption go to foreign markets.
GG was set up in 1970 and currently has a membership on the East Coast of more than 40 farmers – 13 daffodil growers and 32 potato producers.
The co-operative has 1,100 acres of daffodils and 1,500 acres of potatoes.
GG, which is based just outside Montrose, has 15 full-time staff as well as seasonal workers.
The production of potatoes makes up the biggest part of the business.
Mark Clark, managing director of GG for the last 16 years, said annual turnover from potatoes can be between £5 million and £6m.
Every year, the co-operative exports around 6,000 tonnes of seed potatoes to countries including Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand and Kenya.
This is 40% of its 14,000 tonnes of seed sales, with the balance going to UK potato growers and merchants.
In addition, GG markets 3,000 tonnes of salad-type potatoes direct to major UK potato packers. These are mainly the co-operative’s own variety, Gemson.
Daffodil bulb production is responsible for around £3m of GG turnover every year.
Mark explained: “Annually we produce around 4,000 tonnes of bulbs, of which 97% are exported.
“The US is the largest buyer, followed by Holland, Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, then France.
“GG have a unique bulb-certification scheme operated by the Scottish Government, similar to the system in potatoes. Members are incentivised financially to produce a high level of quality to allow exports to both the US and Russia as well as mainland Europe.”
Daffodil flower production brings in between £1m and £1.5m annually.
Mark said the output varies from three million bunches of 10 stems in a poor season to six million bunches in a good season.
When Easter is later in the year, a larger proportion of GG flowers are exported to the US, Scandinavia, France, Germany and Holland.
When an early Easter falls, such as this year, the majority of flowers will be destined for UK retailers.
Mark said this has been one of the most difficult seasons for daffodil flowers in the last 25 years, with a long hard winter, late spring and an early Easter.
The main markets at Mother’s Day and Easter were both missed due to the lateness of the Scottish crop, then an extremely warm spell in April resulted in a reduced demand for daffodils.
The daffodil bulb season starts with lifting on farm in early June, with the first exports leaving for the US in July.
Mark said the strengthening of the pound against the US dollar has had a negative impact on profitability, although the pound against the euro rate has been relatively favourable.
Export demand for potatoes is reported to have been strong this year, although escalating costs and competitive prices result in a continuous squeeze on profit margins.
Looking to the future, GG is to mainly focus on expanding the potato business, both export and with its own Gemson potato variety.
There will be continued investment in potato-breeding programmes, which is key to the future success of GG, identifying new markets for potatoes in areas including sub-saharan Africa and investing in additional resources such as staff and premises.
“There are big opportunities for seedpotato exports,” he said.
“For example, four lorry-loads of seed potatoes recently left on our first-ever export consignment to Zimbabwe.”
As regards GG’S daffodil flowers and bulbs, Mark said there will be a focus on maintaining high health status, the addition of new varieties to match customer demand and identifying new markets for flowers — both export and the UK.
Meanwhile, the imminent departure of the UK from the EU has led to concerns about the availability of labour for flower picking where GG is heavily reliant on Eastern European workers.
Mark said: “On a typical day, we will have 400 flower pickers across the 13 farms. In addition, the free movement of trade and lack of tariffs is crucial to allow access for our products into mainland Europe.”