Connecting African suppliers with UK supermarket shelves
4 July 2008
 More African goods – from chocolate to pineapples to spices in ready meals –
could appear on UK supermarket shelves in the future, said DFID Minister Gareth
Thomas today as he opened bids for a new £2 million scheme to help producers
trade their way out of poverty.
The Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH), which will be match-funded by
retailers, will team food producers from the developing world with major UK
retailers. It aims to increase the flow of African food products to the UK in
innovative ways that work for both parties.
Reducing poverty in your weekly shop
Next Monday, Gareth Thomas will challenge the view that exporting products
from the developing world has a bigger environmental impact. He will launch
groundbreaking research into the carbon footprint of South African fruit and
wine exports in Pretoria.
The Minister said:
"British tastes have changed and are continuing to change. For example, the
demand for pineapple – which can’t be grown in the UK on a commercial scale –
has gone up by 24% in the last year. But producers in Africa can’t always get
the right supply chain in place or they’re not quite adapted to the UK market.
"Our research has shown nearly three-quarters of the UK public want to use their
weekly shop to reduce poverty in the developing world. But they don’t want to
spend over the odds, especially with the global economic situation, and they’re
- quite rightly - concerned about climate change.
"The ability to trade effectively with the UK is making a big difference to
local economies in Africa. We know this works so we want to work with the
business community to take this further - building this bridge directly between
the retailer and producer through this fund means businesses can work together
to see what’s viable and get our support to kick-start a long term solution."
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Help for African farmers
An example of the type of project the Government hopes to see come forward
would be an initiative to help African producers meet strict European
certifications and supermarket standards. UK retailers will be expected to
match-fund projects put forward to help African farmers compete against Asian
and Latin American suppliers and meet the exacting standards of UK supermarkets.
Seven out of ten Africans depend on agriculture and the natural environment for
their livelihoods, including several million people who rely partly on sales of
fruit, vegetables, cocoa, coffee, tea and other agricultural commodities to the
UK. While nearly three-quarters of UK consumers say they want to reduce poverty
through their shopping choices, they are also concerned about issues such as
prices, food safety, environmental impacts and animal welfare.
The carbon footprint research launched on Monday will be co-funded by DFID and
the industry itself. It is the first industry-wide measure to be developed in
South Africa, which is one of the biggest exporters of wine in the world.
Announcing the new research, Gareth Thomas will say:
"South Africa is already starting to see the effects of climate change on its
exports. For example, rainfall patterns are starting to affect the fruit and
wine industry in the Western Cape. But we also need to understand the carbon
"cost" they pose to the environment. This is crucial to maintaining South
Africa’s competitive position in global fruit and wine export markets."
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Notes to editors
1. Over 90% of the fruit and almost 40% of the vegetables we eat in the UK
are imported. UK customers spend over one million pounds a day on fruit and
vegetables from Africa
2. FRICH will provide a platform for piloting public-private partnerships in the
food retail sector that will address these issues by developing new profitable
business models that help increase the sale of sustainably produced food from
Africa. FRICH will enable projects to get off the ground in Africa that might be
too risky for commercial operators to invest in alone, or which help to spread
the benefits to smaller and poorer farmers. By working with the food retail
industry and others, FRICH will help to increase market access for food exports
produced by African farmers, thus reducing poverty by improving the incomes of
the rural poor in Africa.
3.The £200,000 carbon footprint research scheme, jointly funded by DFID and the
Fruit and Wine Industry in South Africa, will measure the carbon footprint of
the industry and establish how the industry's carbon emissions compare to
international competitors. It will then be used to address how the industry can
become carbon neutral securing current jobs and increasing the demand for South
African produce in a sector crucial for the employment of the poor.
4. DFID announced in February that it is doubling its commitment to £1.2 million
to expand Fairtrade labelling across Europe and to help producers in the poorest
countries around the world.
For further information contact Heledd Owen in the DFID Press Office on 020 7023
1752 or e-mail h-owen@dfid.gov.uk
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