We also touched on our ‘ Landed Gently ’ approach which takes a long-term view to improving the things we cannot make any more of , like soil , water air and green space , before now concluding with our exciting ‘ Acorns and Oaks ’ partnerships .
The purpose of Acorns and Oaks as the final pillar of our approach to land is economic , unlike the previous four strands which have been either environmental or social in their design . Through this approach we are aiming for two outcomes ; first we are partnering on our core products to make them available locally and second , we are establishing a small number of strategic partnerships leveraging our land and the Blenheim brand to increase our economic contribution to the local community .
What may be peculiar to some of you reading this is that for a 12,000-acre estate , we produce very little variety from our land , outside of the cereals or livestock , and what we do produce has very little competitive edge once it leaves Blenheim . The vast majority of our sales have little added value and most are exported , with our mineral water the one major exception to this . with limited success but the key to those where it does work is to focus on partnerships ; partnerships with the thriving businesses we have in the UK which add value through the food chain to create real economic gain . If we compete directly with those , no one benefits .
Taking the core products first , this approach sees us focus relentlessly and exclusively on our local area , drawing consumers to the area to sample Blenheim produce and helping us treble our economic contribution to the local area by 2027 – a key goal launched in 2017 alongside our purpose .
Examples of this are lamb reared on the Estate available through our local butchers in Woodstock and online in boxes though Aldens of Oxford , grains grown by our tenant farmers brewed for whiskey or beer through our local distilleries and breweries , available in local restaurants and pubs or through our gift shop .
This is a familiar landscape across the UK with direct financial support for food production falling away under the Agriculture Act . These partnerships , which make use of our brand and add value to our produce from the land will be vital to our farmers and producers . Our Acorns and Oaks project rejuvenates the engine room of our land and its economic success is key to growing our legacy on the land .
Acorns and Oaks gives us a clear focus on using the things we are good at – our land and brand – but it must not be confused with simply placing a label on the product and charging a premium for it . Worse still , it must not be confused with an attempt to establish or acquire a scatter gun of rural enterprises all requiring varying levels of resource with differing levels of success . This has been tried many times by many large Estates
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