Fresh Direct

(Article from  FPJ)

A leading fresh produce supplier to the foodservice industry has launched a service to give its customers seasonal access to fruit and vegetables grown within a 50- mile radius of their restaurants. Fresh Direct’s Local brand will see the Bicester-based company open a series of regional hubs throughout the UK, to procure and provide locally-grown product for a targeted, local customer network.

The syndicate of companies will provide fruit, vegetable and salad lines from local farmers and small, independent growers. “We understand the importance of fully supporting British growers and the economy, and look to build relationships with local suppliers at every opportunity,” said Fresh Direct managing director Nigel Harris. “The profile of local sourcing has grown significantly over the last few years and our customers are now demanding improved availability.

Fresh Direct Local (FDL) effectively gives our customers the ability to buy fresh, local produce at the time that’s best for the product, with the backing of a national delivery capability.” The initial Local company is a family-run business in Cambridgeshire. Formerly Dailyfresh Ltd, the business now trades under the name FDL Cambridgeshire, and is headed up by Kamal Dhariwal. He said: “Having worked alongside Fresh Direct for a few years previously, the shared passion for supporting regionally produced food meant championing the first Local initiative made perfect sense to all of us. With a similar customer base to Fresh Direct, we now have shared know-how, but provide regional accounts with a local voice and knowledge.” Amongst the lines FDL Cambridgeshire plans to offer are strawberries from Paul Harold’s Sun Close Farm. Moggerhanger-based grower Russell Emery will provide green cabbage and herbs, and straying from the core range, Cherry Farm, run by David Lam, will sell his pak choi into the initiative.

The wheels are already in motion for Local numbers two and three, with the final strategic aim being 10- 12 across the UK. “The customer is finally remembering the romanticism of shopping for groceries by more tactile means – taste, touch and sight – with more of a market mentality.

They’re transferring this desire to the restaurant in which they dine and the evidence strongly suggests customers are willing to pay a premium on the menu, in order to support operating regionally growers,” said Harris. “The goal is to reduce the food miles of every product we sell and we will be labelling all of our product with the food miles it has accrued from grower to customer. I want to see that up on chalkboards in our customers’ restaurants, whether the product has come 20 or 2,000 miles. “Obviously, lemons and pineapples don’t grow too well in Cambridge. We are not trying to undermine imported product, and of course Fresh Direct will continue to source the best fresh produce we can from around the globe, but we will make local product available whenever and wherever we can, because that is what our customers are asking for.

Trade slams premature self congratulation
Claims made by the Soil Association (SA) surrounding early results of a study on organic food and nutrition, prior to peer review, have been slammed as premature and mischievous by the industry.

Fresh Produce Consortium chief executive Nigel Jenney said he welcomes any scientific work that helps with the understanding of food nutrition, but sounded a stark warning to the SA regarding its claims that the study showed organic produce has more health benefits than conventionally grown lines. “We look forward to the peer review rather than mischievous claims issued prematurely,” said Jenney. “Releasing this information prior to such a review could call into question the study’s eventual findings.” The SA said that early results from the EU-funded study indicate that organic fresh produce grown as part of the research contained 40 per cent more antioxidants than its conventional version.

But one insider close to the research team said linking this to increased nutritional benefits is misleading. “I am very surprised that these results have come to light,” he told FPJ. “There must be about 20 collaborators working with the research leader around Europe and they are a very close-knit gang that all keep their cards close to their chest. What is not clear at this stage is whether the differences that have been found in antioxidant levels are meaningful.”