People in the industry
Ensuring that British leafy salads are grown to the highest standards relies on a variety of dedicated industry professionals who are responsible for different links in the chain. From the workers who plant the seed through to the agronomists, growers and industry advisors – each has an important role to play. Here are just some of those links in the leafy salad industry chain….
John Allan
Chairman of the BLSA
John's role as chairman of the BLSA involves representing the organisation at industry meetings, ensuring that any issues relevant to members, such as new legislation, environment, wastage, pesticides and water are fully discussed. A key responsibility is research and development to support the lobbying process to fund specific projects and also to promote and defend the industry as appropriate.
Looking to the future, John says: “The British Leafy Salads Association is the trade organization for growers and packers of all salads and baby leaves ranging from large multi national PLC’s to small family run businesses. Regardless of size there are issues and concerns that affect all of our businesses and I want the BLSA to continue to provide an inclusive forum to deal with these issues.”
John’s Typical Day:
My days starts about 7.30, having spoken to the Harvest Manager on the way in, and usually visit some of our growing sites which are spread within a 5-7 mile radius. I take a view on crop growth, quality, and harvest availability. I speak to the Growing Manager about weather forecast, irrigation and cultivation plans and any operational issues.
I arrive at the office about 9.00 and open and respond to mail and emails. Check through customer’s product quality reports for product delivered the previous day and speak to them over the phone. Most of the day is taken up with office work and I hopefully manage to get out sometime between 12.00 and 14 00 to grab a sandwich and possibly visit some more crop or cultivations.
My afternoon is spent keeping abreast of orders for the following day and discussing growing and harvesting issues with the team. We are committed and heavily involved with research development ranging from current trials on carbon capture and storage to new spinach variety trials and this takes regular management. After 17.00 I take advantage of quality time without the phone ringing to do more office work. I try to look at all crops twice a week and then visit individual areas additionally to that. I try to get home by 18.30/19.00 in time to see my 3 young children before they go to bed but often am still in the office after that.
David Norman, Technical Director
David is an independent consultant agronomist with over 25 years of practical experience in intensive commercial production of vegetable and salad crops. He has a degree in Environmental Plant Geography from Reading University where he studied plant root and soil interactions.
He has certificates of competence from BASIS, FACTS and HACCP, is a founder member of the Vegetable Consultants Association and is a BASIS tutor and examiner.
After graduation he worked as a research agronomist with PGRO and then MAFF. Following this he spent 10 years as an independent consultant agronomist with ADAS, before launching his own independent consultancy business, Fresh Produce Consultancy in 1993. Since 1993 Fresh Produce Consultancy has provided a range of technical, agronomy and precision services to vegetable and salad producers, mainly in East Anglia. David sits on the HDC salads R&D group, the HDC allium R&D group and is an elected member of the HDC Field Vegetable Panel which decides on research spending priorities across the field vegetable and salad sectors.
Dr Jim Monaghan
Jim is based at Harper Adams University College. His teaching duties are fresh produce production, food safety in the production of fresh produce and QA systems and their role in the supply chain.
His research interests are:
- Production systems for field grown horticultural crops
- Fertigation in field vegetables
- Post harvest treatments for increased shelf life of fresh produce
- Food safety in fresh produce
- Procurement options for fresh produce importation in the future and risks to UK Plant Health.
Alan Richardson, Marketing
Manager, Bakkavor, “As a member, one
of the greatest benefits of belonging to the BLSA is that you are able
to discuss common interests and issues with your competitors. From talking
about day to day problems such as the effect of the weather on the crops,
to debating longer term issues, it’s great to have a forum to do
just that.”