The UK cereals industry has applauded a recent move by the government to award the cereals industry forum - representing the main cereal trade bodies - a grant of £1.4m over the next three years 'to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the grain chain'.
A key priority for the trade body will be to use the funds to investigate the supply chain of cereal products, and consequently look at ways to boost competitivity.
"The broad membership of the Cereals Industry Forum will enable this to be done through the entire grain chain, from primary producer to final products. I will watch with keen interest the progress of the project and look forward to it producing real benefits," commented Lord Whitty, parliamentary under secretary at the department for environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA).
Wheat, barley and oats are the three main cereals grown in the UK and form the raw ingredients for a wide range of products including bread, beer, biscuits, pasta and breakfast cereals. But the transformation from raw ingredient to final product involves a multitude of steps in what are often long and complicated supply chains.
According to the forum - co-founded by the Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) and the Food Chain Centre - eight supply chains will be selected across the range of cereal products and each supply chain will be mapped in detail. 'They will focus on what really adds value for consumers and identify opportunities for cost savings,' said the forum in a recent statement.
In addition, up to 60 cereal businesses will receive free access to CBI's PROBE, a business diagnostic tool that allows each business to compare its practices against a selection of the world's most successful companies. The outcome of this exercise is an improvement action plan, added the forum.
"The recent agreement on the reform of the common agricultural policy highlights the fact that the UK cereal sector must be internationally competitive if it is to survive," said Professor Chris Ritson, chairman of the cereals industry forum and deputy chairman of HGCA.
"This programme represents a big opportunity for British food producers to respond positively to the challenges of CAP reform," added Deirdre Hutton, chair of the Food Chain Centre steering group.
The three-year project, funded jointly by the department of trade and industry and Defra, is due to start in the autumn. According to the cereals industry forum, an earlier grant from Defra funded its initial project - a survey of 'global competitiveness, examining the current fitness of British cereals to compete against others worldwide'.
Strategies to boost cereals do not stop there. This month the UK is celebrating all that is great and good in British bread in a bid to inform consumers that 'penny for penny, bread is the most nutritionally rich food available'.
"Amazingly though, only around 50 per cent of consumers associate fibre with bread, and only 13 per cent see bread as a good source of vitamins and minerals. British Bread Month seeks to redress this imbalance," said the UK organisers of the event, including the UK federation of bakers, who also informed us that the longest loaf ever made 9200 metres - the length of 100 football pitches!