Rural Development Sub Committee

Inquiry into the Production and Promotion of Welsh Food

The Rural Development Sub-Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the production and promotion of Welsh food. The aim of the inquiry is to:

• Examine the challenges facing the Welsh agri-food sector;

• Assess the success of Welsh Assembly Government initiatives in this area to date;

• Evaluate the appropriateness of the Welsh Assembly Government’s proposals for the future of the sector;

• Make recommendations to the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Committee will look at each element of the food supply chain in Wales from production to consumption.

To gain a comprehensive view of the effectiveness of Welsh Assembly Government initiatives in stimulating the growth of the agri-food sector in Wales, the Committee wishes to invite responses from those directly involved in the sector. This includes producers and the trade, processors, those involved in the promotion and marketing of Welsh food products, retailers and consumers. The Committee is also keen to receive submissions from across all agri-food sectors, including dairy, red-meat, horticulture, poultry, game, organic and fisheries.

Consultation questions

Challenges and opportunities

1. What are the main challenges for the Welsh agri-food sector over the coming years? Please explain why.

As a guide, respondents may wish to consider the different aspects of the chain including:

• Production

• Processing

• Labelling and branding

• Marketing and promotion

• Retail

2. What are the opportunities for the agri-food sector?

(For example, increasing consumer awareness of food miles, organic food, demand for local produce, food quality initiatives etc)

3a. What effect is the current economic climate having on the sector and how will this impact on Welsh produce in the future?

3b. How should the Welsh Assembly Government be responding to this?

Welsh Assembly Government policy

4a. How effective have Welsh Assembly Government policies and initiatives been in stimulating the growth of the agri-food sector in Wales?

4b. Which initiatives have been effective or ineffective and why?

In responding to this question you may wish to consider examples such as:

• the effectiveness of the agri-food partnership and sectoral strategies

• branding initiatives, such as True Taste

• funding support such as the processing and marketing grants available through Farming Connect

5. Have the Welsh Assembly Government’s initiatives to increase awareness of Welsh produce both domestically and overseas been effective? What evidence do you have?

6. Has enough been done to encourage integration between different elements of the food supply chain?

For example between producers and processors, or between producers and retailers/ consumers.

Good Practice

7.  Do you have any examples of good practice within Wales?

8. Do you have any examples of initiatives in other parts of the UK or Europe that have successfully encouraged the growth of regional food products?

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the above address, to arrive no later than Friday 13 February 2009. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to Sustainability.comm@Wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk.

Disclosure of Information

It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a committee. Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report. The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.

In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.

If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published, and to provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.

Alun Davies
Chair, Rural Development Sub-Committee