Farmers launch rescue bid to keep veg local

Charlie Gallichan, of Woodside Farms in Trinity, is hoping to secure the support of enough farmers to plug the gap in the market left by the impending closure of Amal-Grow to meet the demand from the big supermarkets.

Mr Gallichan, the fifth generation of his family to farm at Woodside, said the proposed partnership with other farmers was still under discussion until Amal-Grow announces the result of a current consultation process.

As well as keeping local produce on the shelves it is also hoped the move could mean greater choice for consumers, help to keep prices stable and provide a much-needed boost for farmers.

‘Amal-Grow is in a period of consultation with their staff and until that is finished they could decide to close or carry on. Nobody knows for sure what they doing. What we have done is express an interest,’ said Mr Gallichan.

However, if the Island is to have a supply of fresh local produce over the winter a decision has to made soon so farmers can start planting.

Amal-Grow announced recently that it would be closing its vegetable business and concentrating on Jersey RoyalsAmal-Grow closed today

Amal-Grow, which has been supplying shops across the Island for almost four decades, is preparing to close putting 49 jobs at risk. The company has blamed high production costs, wages and land rents.

Founded by Tony Le Brun in 1976, the business was bought by UK company Albert Bartlett two years ago. A 30-day consultation process with staff to try to avoid or limit the number of redundancies is due to end on 23 March.

Mr Gallichan denied claims that he was setting up a farmers’ co-operative. He also declined to name the other farmers involved.

Tony Le Brun

Amal-Grow was sold to Albert Bartlett and Sons in 2013.

The company, which has a depot on Trinity Main Road, was started in 1976 by Tony Le Brun.

It was hoped at the time that being owned by a larger company could open up new distribution channels.

Farm director and shareholder Mike Greenwood said at the time that the business would continue to provide locally grown veg to shops in the Island as well as looking at exports.

He added: ‘Tony was the senior partner and a 60 per cent owner of the business and he was at a stage in his life where he wanted to retire.

Woodside Farms grows and exports Island produce to the UK, Europe and America so it has the facilities to prepare produce as required by the large supermarket chains and established channels of supply and delivery.

However, Mr Gallichan said an increase in volume passing through the pack houses would require them to be updated.

The idea is for growers to supply Woodside, who will process and deal with the customers, making it easier for more growers to get their produce into the supermarkets, which will also increase the availability of local produce to shoppers in both bailiwicks.

Mr Gallichan also hopes it will encourage growers to diversify into premium crops.

‘It is not going to be an easy road but we believe it can work, but it has to be part of something different,’ he said.

The news has been welcomed by the Channel Islands Co-operative Society, which has also been in discussion with Woodside Farms and other growers in Jersey and Guernsey for the past month following the announcement from Amal-Grow.

The organisation’s commercial officer Jim Plumley said they were ‘100 per cent behind it’.

Waitrose has also been consulted and Mr Gallichan said it was also supportive of his plans.

Meanwhile tonight a meeting is due to take place to discuss what measures Jersey can take to prevent a food shortage crisis in the future, particularly in light of the Amal-Grow announcement.

The event has been organised by the community group, Jersey in Transition, and is due to take place at the Town House in New Street from 7.30pm.

THE announcement a few weeks ago that Amal-Grow, the Channel Island’s biggest vegetable grower, was closing raised several troubling questions.

Concern was not simply focused on how a heavier reliance on imported produce would affect prices in the shops.

More than that, it encompassed issues of food security, the impact on the look and feel of the countryside if farmers ceased to be its custodians, rising unemployment and the fear that large corporations provided the only viable model for sustainable farming in an island which for centuries has had a proud tradition of small independent farms.

It is reassuring news, therefore, that a group of growers led by Charlie Gallichan, of Woodside Farms in Trinity, are looking not just to fill the gap left by Amal-Grow’s impending closure, but also to expand.

Mr Gallichan is not just talking positively about diversification and supporting smaller independent farmers with expertise that runs in the blood, he is making it happen. He now needs the support of politicians who have long paid lip service to these ideas, but have done precious little to help struggling farmers.

Producers will be encouraged to grow a greater variety of crops, something which will inject new life into the countryside.

But that is not the end of the story. Mr Gallichan and his partners now need the backing of Islanders. Buying local has never been so important. Genuine Jersey businesses need genuine Jersey support.

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