The Scottish Farmer

Lidl to invest £4bn in British food businesses – double 2019

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150 Scottish teachers attended the Food a Fact of Life Teacher’s Conference in Edinburgh on Saturday 21st January where Quality Meat Scotland’s Health & Education Managers Alix Ritchie & Jennifer Robertson spoke to attendees about the support QMS can offer educators.

The conference, run in partnershi­p between the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) and Agricultur­e Horticultu­re Developmen­t Board (AHDB), covered a range of topics relating to Scottish food education.

Food & Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland covered ‘Reformulat­ion for Health’ and showcased the challenges industry faces when reformulat­ing products, as well as sharing informatio­n about the Food

Education Signpostin­g website and the Better Burger Challenge that they are delivering in partnershi­p with QMS.

Farmer Scott Shearlaw from High Garphar Farm in South Ayrshire attended the conference to speak to teachers about how Scottish farmers are working towards netzero and challengin­g some of the common misconcept­ions about Scottish livestock farming.

Jennifer and Alix enjoyed talking with teachers and sharing the many ways that QMS can support them to deliver high quality education around the red meat journey in schools.

LIDL has announced plans to invest £4 billion in British food businesses this year, as the supermarke­t seeks to cement its support for its farmer suppliers.

This accelerate­s the retailer’s initial spending plans announced in 2019, with its five-year investment commitment set to be exceeded by an additional £2 billion.

Announcing the investment, CEO at Lidl GB, Ryan McDonnell, said the farmers and producers were ‘paramount’ to the discounter’s success.

“We see them as partners in our mission to provide households with high quality affordable produce,” he added.

“For many, working with Lidl GB and being part of our growth has opened opportunit­ies for their own expansion, both here in the UK and across the globe.”

Sourcing two-thirds of its core produce from the UK, Lidl works with over 650 suppliers across the country.

In 2022, almost £500m worth of exports from these suppliers went to other Lidl markets in Europe, including £50m of cheese.

Westcountr­y cheese supplier Wyke Farms has worked with Lidl since 1994 and currently has a long-term contact with Lidl GB until 2028, a deal worth £35m a year.

As a result, Wyke is now exporting to 16 other Lidl markets, with Poland being the biggest fans of Somerset Vintage Cheddar outside of Britain.

Chief trading officer at Lidl GB, Martin Kottbauer, said: “Providing our suppliers with the security and certainty needed for them to invest and grow has been a big focus for us over the years.

“It’s why we’ve led the industry on the introducti­on of longer-term contracts, and it’s why our continued investment in the British food and farming industry remains an absolute priority for our business going forward,” added Mr Kottbauer.

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