Beanstalk Global

“Women in Food and Farming” is a group of professional women in food, agriculture, and the land-based industries at all stages of their careers, who get together to discuss business issues, support each other via mentorship and advice, and help generate networks of contacts that might be useful to themselves and their businesses.

Founded in 2011 by Christine Tacon CBE, the group started back in 2011 with just five women and has now grown to over 500 members. Christine is known to many as the first Grocery Code Adjudicator and head of the Co-op’s farming business, she has just been appointed Chair of Assured Food Standards which operates the Red Tractor Assurance scheme amongst other roles.

Beanstalk is very proud to offer our extensive platforms to allow Women in Food and Farming to continue their conversation and debate and to encourage new members ongoing to join them, be that on a virtual Broadcast basis.

In the December broadcast, we welcome guest speaker Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-Tech E – Europe’s largest commercial membership network connecting farmers and growers with researchers, technologists, entrepreneurs and investors.

Agri-Tech E brings together those who see innovation as way to enhance the economic growth, agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability of the agri-food value chain. They were named national Networking Group of the Year at the UK SME Business Awards 2019.

Belinda is also a Trustee of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association and a Non-Executive Director of Agrimetrics, one of the UK’s Agri-Tech Centres, and was a member of the Council of UKRI-BBSRC (2015-2021).

She has a first degree from the University of Cambridge in Natural Sciences (Part II Plant Sciences) and a PhD in plant biochemistry from the John Innes Centre (University of East Anglia). She is a Nuffield Scholar, an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Councils, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, a Chartered Biologist, and a qualified business coach.

A new promotional campaign, designed to drive purchases of British leeks has recently been launched to great industry applaud. It intends to build on the gains seen during the pandemic, which saw sale volumes up by nearly 9% in 2021. The initiative is backed by a group of sixteen leek growers and seed companies.

This year, the Leek Growers Association has partnered with popular vegan social influencer and food writer Lucy Parker, who posts as @lucy_and_lentils and has over 168,000 followers on Instagram. Her easy to prepare, accessible recipes and extensive reach across a wide range of social media channels, will help the campaign reach and engage with younger audiences.

In addition to social media, a comprehensive media relations PR campaign, targeting national and regional consumer media and news channels is to be rolled out.

Hortnews.com quoted Tim Casey, Leek Growers Association Chairman, as saying: “Increasingly consumers are using social media as a resource for information on food, nutrition and recipes. In fact, recent research* showed that 21% of Britons use Instagram for recipes ideas, four in ten use social media videos to follow a recipe and 26% follow foodie social influencers.”

On the broadcast will be:

Tim Casey. Leek Grower - Bomber County Produce and Chairman of the Leek Growers Association.

Lucy Parks, Lucy and Lentils. @LucyandLentils - Plant based food blogger.  Way back before it was cool Lucy became vegetarian when the word vegan was but a faint whisper and the most exciting thing to hit the market was Linda McCartney veggie sausages! 

Going to university made it abundantly clear she was also a terrible cook. But with a mission to be a little more self-sufficient she turned to social media for guidance. This is where Lucy and Lentils was 'born'. So what started as a hobby for Lucy has now become her job! Splitting her time between sponsored work on Instagram, food photography for brands and independents in Nottingham as well as recipe creating for similar start-up companies. 

The Produce Marketing Association is a key International trade organisation representing companies from every segment of the global fresh produce and floral supply chain. The PMA helps members grow by providing connections that expand business opportunities and increase sales and consumption. Their mission is to connect, inform and deliver industry solutions to enhance their members’ prosperity.

Each month, we will be focusing on a major area of South African fresh produce and discussing that all with the country’s key industry experts so we can learn and appreciate fantastic South African Fresh Produce. This month it’s Berries!

Joining  Lianne Jones – Country Manager Southern Africa, PMA, will be number of key industry experts:

Wian Mouton – Commercial Manager, Fall Creek Farm & Nursery.

Rouxan Jansen van Rensburg – Core Fruit.

Louw Pienaar – BFAP.

Elzette Schutte – Berries ZA Manager.

Following Beanstalk Global interviewing Tom at the recently held National Fruit Show in Kent, we have had several requests for us to conduct a further interview with Tom. This is so we can gain his further reaction and views as to what he is seeing in the agricultural and fresh produce sectors from his own and a NFU perspective.

Tom farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex. Alongside a small owned farm they run a larger contract farming business growing a range of combinable crops across 950 hectares in North East Essex. The home farm is based around arable production but has also diversified into equestrian and renewables. 

Tom has represented the NFU from Local Branch Chairman through to Chair of the National Combinable Crops Board.

MDS works in partnership with over 55 organisations across the fresh produce industry to provide a unique graduate scheme unlike any other. MDS Trainees can experience four different roles and gain the necessary tools to become future leaders, including a professional Leadership and Management qualification, mentoring, coaching and access to exclusive networking events. Over the last 35 years, MDS has produced a network of over 500+ food and fresh produce leaders.

Food is the Future

The food industry generates an annual turnover of around £104 billion annually, as the largest manufacturing sector in the country. Food, fresh produce and agriculture is playing a vital role in working towards a better future. The industry is crucial in solving many of the environmental and social issues that are high on the agenda in terms of career aspirations for future generations. Employing around 4 million people, the sector is full of diverse opportunities, high job satisfaction and rising salaries. Fresh produce values its employees, and it is actively seeking out problem solvers who will play an essential role in meeting market demand and feeding an expected population of over 70 million.

This broadcast will focus on why food and fresh produce is an exciting career, how it appeals to graduates, and the endless emerging opportunities within the industry.

Two businesses have come together to create a unique Broadcast series to promote Indian Fresh Produce and Fresh Foods to an International audience. Welcome to the first of an ongoing series with Fresh Express India and Beanstalk Global.

Fresh Express export and promote Indian Fresh Produce, specifically Table Grapes and Natural Sun-Dried Raisins, grown on their own and partner farms with 700+ small farmers. They have been marketing fresh produce from India across the Globe successfully for the last 27 years.

Nina Patil – Director at Fresh Express, is a multi-talented and multi-faceted personality and takes a very keen interest in farming and lives by the belief quality of a product is shaped by its growing practices. Nina ensures certifications like GLOBALGAP and BSCI are implemented in spirit and action on an ongoing basis, every step of the way. She will be a key co-host on the Indian Broadcasts with Max MacGillivray Editor in Chief of Beanstalk Global.

On our first Broadcast, we have the privilege of being joined by Nina and Detlev Grimmelt who is the Managing Director of FAIRTRADE in Germany. He has held the position since 2011 and is highly respected internationally for the work that he and his team conducts. Fresh Express had the pleasure of hosting him in India in 2019 where he met FAIRTRADE farmers and saw the positive impact of FAIRTRADE and the excellent results on farm. FAIRTRADE in Germany also celebrates its 30th year anniversary in 2022 and we are all very keen to hear of the achievement to date of Detlev and his team!

Their mission is to change the status quo and leverage the talent of Women in Produce to close the industry’s gender divide by inspiring, connecting and empowering women around the world. And their mission matters more than ever.

Today, women account for 80% of purchasing decisions, but only 20% of the voices guiding decisions in the boardroom. What’s more, is that by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets to feed a growing world population of 10 billion people – half of them female.

Our industry is being called upon to feed the world more humanely, sustainably and efficiently – and more female leadership is a critical part of the answer.

Beanstalk Global has partnered up with Global Women Fresh to create a unique monthly Broadcast interview series. This to further promote the great work they do, to gain them more members ongoing and additional corporate sponsorship as well as to assist them to make a long-term difference in the Global Fresh Produce sectors.

In the very successful “Coffee and Tea with Global Women Fresh” series, for November we are very excited to assist Global Women Fresh to launch their international “Micro-Finance” pilot program.

The microfinance intervention by the Global Women Fresh is part of the SheTrades Rwanda project, part of the project to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of export growth initiatives (EGI project) led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Rwanda (MINICOM). The SheTrades Rwanda project is implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) SheTrades Initiative and funded by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).

The majority of the world’s poor share one profession: farming. Most of these farmers cultivate less than 10 acres of land, far away from paved roads and with limited access to the improved seed and fertilizer they need to produce good harvests. Most of these farmers also lack access to financial services that could help them buy that seed and fertilizer. If the global microfinance industry seeks to have a long-term impact on global poverty, it must address the needs of smallholder farmers. Most microfinance institutions are focused in urban and peri-urban areas, but a few offer products specifically targeted at farmers.

There has been fast-growing interest in the farm microfinance sector in the last few years. The World Bank estimates that agricultural development is “two to four times more effective in raising incomes among the very poor than growth in other sectors.” Not only is this a high-impact sector, it’s also a large one. Farmers account for more than 30% of the global working-age population, and most of them live in poor countries. And a significant portion are women.

Global Women Fresh are going to brief and inform us all of their own “Micro-Finance” pilot program and to assist, we will have key speakers and businesses including:

Liz Becerra / International Trade Centre.

Julie Escobar / President of Global Women Fresh.

Immaculee Mukamana / Nyamurinda Coffee – Rwanda

Sakina Usengimana / Afrifoods Ltd – Rwanda

Gisele Umuhoza / National Coordinator SheTrades – Rwanda 

Agri-TechE is bringing together farmers and growers with scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs to create a global innovation hub in agri-tech.

They are a business-focused membership organisation, supporting the growth of a world-leading network of innovative farmers, producers, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs who share a vision of increasing the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture.

The REAP 2021 virtual event is being based on “Imagining a world where agriculture is not constrained by time”

Timing is crucial in agriculture, through the cycle of sowing to harvest and calving to slaughter, but also for strategic decision-making such as predicting demand for perishable goods and automation to extend the working day.

The ability to manage and manipulate time is increasing. REAP 2021 will explore the many ways this is happening through advances in technology and breakthroughs in science.

The adoption of innovation is getting faster. By 2030 over 80% of rural areas across the world will have connectivity, with frontier systems like LEO satellites promising faster communications.

Putting the speed of fibre optic connections in the air will open up access to a new generation of agri-tech, as low latency and high-resolution near-earth observation are essential for many agri-tech applications.

Additionally, knowledge of the role of circadian rhythms for controlling ripening, reproduction, response to disease and medication may create the opportunity to time-shift – enabling ‘spring’ lamb all year, offering multiple harvests, increasing the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables by weeks and mitigating the impact of climate change.

What are the implications for agricultural business models and supply chains in a world without time constrictions?

Farmer? Researcher? Technologist? Investor? Prepare for time travel at REAP 2021!

“Women in Food and Farming” is a group of professional women in food, agriculture, and the land-based industries at all stages of their careers, who get together to discuss business issues, support each other via mentorship and advice, and help generate networks of contacts that might be useful to themselves and their businesses.

Founded in 2011 by Christine Tacon CBE, the group started back in 2011 with just five women and has now grown to over 500 members. Christine is known to many as the first Grocery Code Adjudicator and head of the Co-op’s farming business, she has just been appointed Chair of Assured Food Standards which operates the Red Tractor Assurance scheme amongst other roles.

Beanstalk is very proud to offer our extensive platforms to allow Women in Food and Farming to continue their conversation and debate and to encourage new members ongoing to join them, be that on a virtual Broadcast basis.

In the November broadcast, we welcome guest speaker Jan England of England Marketing. They are a leading market research agency, specialising in research in the food, agriculture and environment sectors. They are also Company Partners of the Market Research Society and run The Research Hub, a facility for their clients to research, explore, develop and learn. On site they undertake product evaluation, taste testing and immersive research. They are also developing capabilities in biometric testing with Anglia Ruskin University.

One of the fastest growing start-ups in Europe, Gorillas is a potential harbinger of broader shifts in the bike delivery sector and the gig economy. We look to have a deep dive into their business with one of their key UK Directors to find out why they are definitely one to watch.

Founded in May 2020 and built on a promise to deliver groceries within 10 minutes to the consumer, Gorillas achieved the vaunted start-up "unicorn" status by reaching a $1 billion (€858 million) valuation after just nine months, the fastest ever German company to do so.  

Launched in Berlin, Gorillas now operates in nearly 60 cities in 9 countries in Europe and North America.  Gorillas is currently valued at $3 billion (€2.5 billion), while competitor Flink, founded in Berlin in December 2020, is valued at $2.1 billion (€1.8 billion). Since launching, part of Gorillas’ marketing efforts has been its focus on establishing better working conditions than rival delivery platforms.

The biggest long-term question is whether the grocery delivery model was merely a pandemic-fuelled fad or if it represents concrete shifts in consumptive behaviour. According to the Gig Economy Project, the food delivery sector has doubled in size since the start of the pandemic. Huge investments in companies like Gorillas and Flink indicate investors have faith in the model, and it is thought that grocery delivery is here to stay.

“In a sense, it’s part of how capitalism is continuously inventing new needs and requirements. We didn’t ever need to have our takeaways delivered to us did we?! We could have walked and picked them up. But now lots of people take it for granted that their takeaway will be delivered to them. Maybe it’s the same for groceries. Let’s see.” stated Max MacGillivray of Beanstalk.

Join us as we go live with Matthew Nobbs - Commercial Director for Gorillas UK, to find out about their disruptive business model and how they could be the future for retail.