A group of producers and government representatives undertaking a fact-finding mission to explore the opportunity to increase sales of Dutch organic produce in the UK was given an insight into the potential at New Covent Garden Market last week.

In response to the Dutch Action Plan for Growth in Organic Production and Consumption, announced in December 2022, UK research and consulting organisation Promar International worked with the Dutch Embassy in London to analyse prospects in the UK organic food market. The ambitious Dutch plan aims to significantly increase the percentage of cultivated farmland for organic food production in the Netherlands – from its current level of 4,8% to “up to 15%”, by 2030.

To work towards this objective, it is also looking at demand, both domestically andin neighboring markets for The Netherlands. In this context, the group of organic food producers visited the UK’s largest wholesale market and met with three companies that gave them a cross-section of perspectives.

Gary Marshall, owner of Bevington Salads and chairman of the Covent Garden Tenants’ Association, gave the view from Buyers’ Walk, where ‘organics’ is not a regular topic of conversation. He said that demand for organic fresh produce has dwindled over the years, due largely to inconsistent supply and an inability to keep prices in line with customer expectations, when compared with conventional produce. He said that customers are more likely to ask about sustainability and other ESG factors than organic, but also felt that if the quality, consistency and price can all dovetail, there is no reason why premium product that happens to be organic could not be sold in greater volume.

Jason Tanner and Jason Linke at The Menu Partners then explained the changing shape of their fast-growing business within the Market, particularly the increasing number of clients with which TMP collaborates on menu creation and curation, which enables chefs across the country to be more in tune with seasonality and supply challenges - and better align their menus with availability and price throughout the year. Both said that there is demand within the client base for organic fresh and frozen product, but reiterated Gary’s point that consistency of supply and price point are key to any future growth. As many client menus are designed to run across multiple sites for three- or six-month periods, the need for consistency of supply is paramount to TMP, which is responsible for ensuring the needs of those menus are met.

The Dutch group then met with Vincenzo Zaccarini, owner of Vincenzo Ltd, who gave another view on organic produce. His business, he said, has been built on close personal relationships with select chefs in London and often those chefs continue to buy from Vincenzo when they move from location to location around the country. The company specialises in Italian fresh produce, meat, fish and other delicacies, but said Vincenzo, he sells product from several countries and will always be open to discussing options for organic product that fits into the high standards he needs to serve the ‘top 5%’ of UK chefs.

Jojanne van Andel, Agricultural Attache at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UK, was visiting New Covent Garden Market for the first time. “I think for the group, the opportunity to meet different wholesalers with different perspectives was very useful,” she said “It was interesting to learn more about the diversity of the size of the companies at the Market – they range from quite small to extremely large - and definitely the fact that they have moved into the whole value chain and started co-designing menus and helping to train and educate their customers’ teams. The size of their portfolios and connections is far wider than I would have thought and to see how broad their scope is was very interesting.

“This mission was about current insights and developments in the UK market for organic food products. This visit and conversations certainly contributed to this.”

Sarah Stattman, Senior Policy Officer Organic Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, in the Hague, has been instrumental in the work to expand the country’s organic production capacity. The Organic Action Plan focusses on: increasing demand and market options; stimulating production; and improving knowledge and innovation.

To learn and see the situation in other countries is very supportive in contributing to the Dutch goals, Sarah said, adding: “We firmly believe that the Netherlands’ innovative strength in food production can be used to make strides towards stimulating organic agriculture,” Sarah said. One of the main challenges is increasing market demand. Therefore it is interesting to learn from the varies roads to market and ways to reach the end consumer, whether it is through the Market, through wholesalers, restaurants and other channels. We need to explore all of them to reach the Dutch ambitions.

John Giles, Divisional Director at Promar International concluded: “This was a very interesting visit to New Covent Garden and learn about the re development plans that are ongoing there and how the market facility will look in the future and how the demand for organic and sustainable food per se will change too. For the Dutch companies who participated, it was a chance to bring the whole subject to life and for them to hear first hand what is happening in the UK. Earlier in the week, the group had taken in a number of retail store visits, attended a trade show at the Excel Centre and heard from other parts of the supply chain too, not least on how new border controls in the UK are likely to operate."