Our Deputy Chair Sarah Louise Fairburn gives her assessment of the scale of the Greater Lincolnshire food sector and the opportunities it presents.

Sarah Louise Fairburn gives an introduction to the scale of the food sector and the opportunity it presents.

The agri-food sector combines agriculture, food manufacturing, wholesaling and distribution with a strong focus on underpinning technology. We have an international reputation for food, fish and farming and one of the largest concentrations of food manufacturing, research, storage and distribution in Europe.  We are developing a UK Food Valley ecosystem which will bring together the food industry, food supply chain, technology suppliers, government and academia to position our food cluster as a world-class investment location

Greater Lincolnshire is responsible for growing 30% of the nation's vegetables and has 18% of the poultry, with a total agricultural output of over £2 billion in 2019, 12% of England’s total.  This strength in agriculture is replicated in food processing with the UK’s largest fish processing cluster on the Humber, the centre of the UK’s fresh produce industry in south Lincolnshire and major arable, poultry and meat processors spread right across the area.  We are therefore strategically important in national food security.  

More focused on the commercial food sector than any other LEP, 18% of our workforce is employed in agriculture, food processing, food wholesaling and distribution.  The sector is five times more concentrated in Greater Lincolnshire than at UK level and, in south Lincolnshire at the Heart of the UK Food Valley, this rises to 10 times. 

Our food cluster contains world-class farmers, UK and international food processors, traders and logistics companies. Spalding in the south of the county alone dispatches over 1,000 lorry loads of food into the supply chain each day! The UK Food Valley cluster in Lincolnshire is ambitious, has strong investment, and is innovating. 

The sector here is also a major investor in skills, innovation and research.  The last five years have seen major investment in the agri-food R&D and innovation infrastructure in Greater Lincolnshire with the creation of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology, the growth of the National Centre for Food Manufacturing, the development of an Institute of Technology  focused on higher level skills in agri-food and the development of Bishop Burton’s Riseholme Showground campus.

Greater Lincolnshire is different from other LEP areas in having significant strength at every stage of the food chain, from farming to food processing, marketing and logistics.

In agriculture the Greater Lincolnshire farmed area is 1.32 million acres, or 6% of England’s farmed area.  However its contribution to national output is much higher because it has a larger share of higher value crops and livestock.

In crops our specialism is vegetables, salads and ornamental plants and flowers.  In livestock, areas such as Rutland, the Lincolnshire Wolds and the coast have extensively grazed beef and sheep production with pigs concentrated in North Lincolnshire, but the real specialism is in intensive poultry meat and egg production.

The industry contains just over 6,000 companies from SMEs to some of the largest companies in the international food chain.  While agriculture is dominated by SMEs, the rest of the food chain has a diverse mix from small start-ups and specialist micro producers to multi-nationals with thousands of employees, both those headquartered locally and plants owned by global companies.

The area has over 70 large food producers, of whom over half are part of larger international companies.  Companies such as Bakkavor with 20,000 staff are centred on Lincolnshire where a third of their workforce are based, but they also operate in the US and China.

Greater Lincolnshire has a diversity of food sectors, with particular specialisms in naturally good for health food such as vegetables, salads, fish, lean meat and eggs.  We are also a key arable area and our businesses have embraced the trend for convenience prepared food; Greater Lincolnshire now hosts large businesses, such as Gousto, at the forefront of the revolution in food purchasing and distribution. 

The Greater Lincolnshire agri-food sector is large, growing and nationally significant.  It is dynamic and knowledge-led with a strong record of investment in innovation and skills.

Total investments across the agrifood sector since 2016 are over £600m, including over £90m in the research and skills base.  Key investments in the research and skills base include:

  • Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT) 
    This facility has secured £6.3m to create Lincoln Agri-Robotics and £6.9m to establish the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Agri-Food Robotics to support 50 PhDs in agrifood robotics with industry. The LIAT also leads the £1.1m Internet of Food Things Network+, a national programme to stimulate investment in food chain digital technologies, and is a partner in the CERES £5m venture capital programme run by Cambridge University.  Since its creation, the LIAT has become the largest agri-robotics team in Europe and has a world-leading programme with industry and academic partners from across the globe.
  • National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM)
    The NCFM is the UK’s largest provider of training to the food processing industry, with a wide range of degree, apprenticeships and industry short courses.  It has secured £7m to create a new centre of excellence on the South Lincolnshire FEZ and is also supporting a new £8m hub building on the FEZ to support SMEs and industry partners.  The NCFM also leads the Greater Lincolnshire Agri-food Innovation Platform £2.3m. In addition to the major projects above, the LIAT and the NCFM have also secured funding of £14.5m for 91 innovation and applied research projects with industry since 2016.
  • The Lincolnshire Institute of Technology (IoT)
    This was one of 12 IoTs announced in 2019, led by the University of Lincoln, with seven FE/HE partners and specialising in agri-tech, food manufacturing, energy, digital, engineering.  A £15m investment, the IoT will spearhead transformation of the skills base across the LEP area.
  • Bishop Burton College’s Riseholme Showground campus
    Completed in 2016 at a total cost of £26m including £7.5m from the Greater Lincolnshire LEP, the campus's industry-standard agri-food facilities (eg food science laboratories, commercial kitchens and engineering workshops) service the training needs of 504 full-time FE students and 72 HE students (2019/20).  A recent £1.2m investment is part of the Lincolnshire IoT for higher level agri-food skills to support HE expansion and provide industry with the skills required for precision farming.  A further £2.4m is being invested to provide residential accommodation as a regional land-based education centre. The college has developed its curriculum in partnership with major agri-food employers including Cranswick PLC and Tulip and established the British Egg Academy with Morrisons.

While the Greater Lincolnshire food chain has been challenged by Covid-19, and the parts of it which serve the food service and food-to-go markets has declined, the majority of the industry is focused on the food retail supply chain, where volumes have increased by 15% or more.  2020 has for many companies therefore been a year of growth and investment in staff and physical capacity as they bring extra capacity on board.  Food businesses remain cautiously optimistic that they will see further growth in both the UK and export markets as the economy recovers.

Sarah Louise Fairburn is Deputy Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP,, Chair of the Food Board, and Brand and Sales Director at Fairburn Eggs.