Our team digs into McCains' farm to fork journey
Last week, the whole RCF team visited the HQ of our Routes to Regen partner, McCain Foods, in Scarborough, and we were fortunate to get a whole farm to fork tour of their operations.
We learned so much from seeing the whole farm to fork operation, hearing McCain Foods’ perspective on regenerative agriculture and sustainability as a business, and the challenges, opportunities and successes that they have encountered. It was wonderful to hear about their sustainability journey and strategy from Jess McGhie.
Regen ag was highlighted by James Young, as part of the whole jigsaw puzzle, among other elements of a thriving business including people, economics, innovation, and food safety and quality. This was demonstrated through their Sustainable Agriculture Strategy, which James talked us through. We learned about the positive agricultural practices that McCains’ farmers have followed for years, things that now fall under regenerative agriculture. This relates to the RCF initiative a few years back where we created an A-Zero guide to support farmers to overcome the issue of environmental jargon.
It was brilliant to hear how McCain Foods work with and support their farmers, creating strong, transparent and trusting relationships that protect them from the negative elements of the free market in Europe, supporting farmers with their business resilience and long term planning.
We heard about the complex R&D processes at McCains, which happens at a factory and sensory level to develop new products and refine current products to meet demand. We then got to try some of their delicious potato-based products!
We also heard about the R&D at a potato plant level on plant breeding and research with agronomy partners and farmers in Scotland, helping to develop potato seed that guarantees the future of potato farming, looking at resilient to drought, blight, scab, etc.
We have left more knowledgeable about potatoes and the incredible work that McCain Foods does, from business resilience to sustainability in their factory and their farm. We saw into a world that is usually far off bound to the public, due to the high food and safety standards, and what an experience it was!
McCain Foods is one of our key Routes to Regen partners, an innovative cross-industry collaboration that provides a menu of support to farmers to help them transition to more regenerative practices. McCain Foods has played a pivotal role in chairing this project and we’re delighted to have their support and work together to help farmers build resilient businesses. Click here to find out more about Routes to Regen.
