Food procurement workshops coming to the regions
UK - Farmers, growers and other suppliers of food to the public sector will be able to find out about opportunities to better supply schools, hospitals and prisons with fresh produce through a series of government-run regional workshops in February-March 2006.Sustainable Food and Farming Minister, Lord Bach said: "These workshops present farmers and other food producers with the ideal opportunity to learn about options available to them for supplying a market worth around £1.8billion a year.
"The potential for farmers to capitalise on contracts to supply the public sector is immensely encouraging. I would urge farmers, growers and farmer co-operatives to consider forging links with this sector via contractors and catering suppliers and to attend the workshops."
The workshops will provide delegates with an opportunity to understand how the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative works, and how to do business with the public sector and primary suppliers. They will help farmers to understand how to deal with concerns about price, product quality and consistency and volumes of supply.
If farmers lack the capacity to supply the public sector directly, they can learn how to do this indirectly, through primary suppliers - for example wholesalers, contract caterers, regional distributors and local butchers.
Source: FarmingUK
10 February 2006
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