bmta.co.uk
PROTECTING THE FOOD CHAIN
DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Jim Moseley – CEO Red Tractor
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought food supply into
sharp focus – perhaps more so than any other time since
World War 2. It has changed the way people are buying
and consuming food, from initial mass panic buying, to
consumers going directly to farm gates, or smaller
outlets to avoid the crowds, to find a scarce product to
purchase which will enable them to cook from scratch.
We have learnt a lot about our country, our supply chains
and ourselves during the past four months.
The food sector united as an industry to feed the nation, but
at Red Tractor we were adamant that this shouldn’t be at the
cost of relaxing production standards. For two decades we
have worked to improve standards to ensure that the UK’s
supply chain remains as safe and secure as possible.
The introduction of remote assessments to replace physical inspections at the end of March is just one of the
latest examples of how we do this.
With over 46,000 British farmer members and approximately 75% of UK agricultural output Red Tractor
Assured, we are the UK’s largest food and farming scheme. Membership provides a route to market to some of
the UK’s largest food service customers, restaurant chains, pubs and supermarkets – resulting in over £14
billion of British produced food and drink carrying the logo. Because of this, our mission is very clear - ensure
people have access to safe, affordable, and responsibly sourced food, by protecting the integrity of the food
chain and British agricultural standards.
In addition to safeguarding the supply chain, our standards are designed to reduce the audit burden for both
farmers and processors - making it an economically viable sourcing choice for food most businesses.
The change from having a physical visit to a live streamed audit is quite significant, but it was necessary for the
farm assurance chain to remain robust. This innovative solution meets all UKAS and Food Standards Agency
requirements, to ensure the supply chain remains secure and high quality, traceable British produce is always
available for food businesses and consumers.
Through a combination of live streaming and the option to upload documents to a unique and secure custom
built secure portal– effectively a confidential online filing system – beforehand, remote assessments have
allowed our Certification Bodies to fulfil their roles of managing the scheme and carrying out assessments to
certify the Red Tractor Standards.
By giving assessors the ability to have ‘virtual eyes’ on farm, it has allowed farmers to complete their
assessments to gain or maintain their assurance status throughout this unprecedented period.