UK Food Valley is promoting Lincolnshire’s innovative food producers
A major project which aims to shout about Lincolnshire’s role in producing the nation’s food has helped to boost the county’s economy and profile across the world.
UK Food Valley was launched two years ago to enhance the county’s agri-food industry by attracting additional funding which will not only help to increase the number of high skills jobs in the area.
Lincolnshire produces an eighth of England’s food with more than 75,000 food sector jobs – with 42% of those in South Holland which concentrates on fresh produce and logistics.
The scheme is being promoted by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and work closely with Holbeach Food Enterprise Zone.
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Chair of the LEP’s Food Board Sarah Louise Fairburn is proud of the impact of UK Food Valley.
She said: “I am really excited about the UK Food Valley – we are getting interest internationally and nationally.
“I am proud of the sheer amount of investment that UK Food Valley has brought in and the fact that we work closely with the University of Lincoln – that is going to make the world of difference for our economy.
“We have to make sure that we have the right skills on the ground to farm effectively in the future.”
The UK Food Valley aims to attract investment by promoting the scale and diversity of the food sector in the county along with supporting existing companies.
The project is made up of five clusters including the South Lincolnshire Food Processing; Fresh Produce and Glasshouse; Logistics; Seafood Processing; and Port opportunities.
South Holland features heavily in most of these sectors due to the thriving commercial food sector. Up to 30% of all national food freight is distributed through the district and there is potential for food logistics to grow with a consented site at Clay Lake.
It is estimated that 30% of all national food freight is distributed through South Holland.
The UK Food Valley was set-up to help deliver a low carbon food chain along with speeding up automation but it’s other aims include developing healthy foods.
And over the last two years, the scheme has helped to deliver on some of its aims by bringing in grant funding with the University of Lincoln – including £4.9million to work on agri-tech.
Ms Fairburn said: “What we are going to do is build on what we have done and do more. We are going to have a UK Food Valley showcased event to bring UK based buyers and retailers to the table and innovative food producers to meet each other to see what we are doing for the future of the food system.
“We are going to be taking some of Lincolnshire’s most innovative food producers to talk to retailers and supply chains on product development and I just think it is exciting for everyone.”
What do you think? Is it time we celebrated our locally-produced food more? Post your thoughts in the comments below
