Castell Howell Foods: “We all have to do better”

Welsh wholesaler plays key role in groundbreaking pilot project to support local produce and growers

With just 6% of vegetables in Welsh schools being grown in Wales, a wholesaler is working with others to drive forward change as part of a groundbreaking project.

Castell Howell Foods, based in Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, currently supplies ingredients for 700,000 school meals at 1,000 Welsh schools, and is playing an integral role in the Welsh Veg for Schools pilot project.

“A significant amount of the vegetables served in Welsh schools is frozen and the majority comes from outside Wales, and none of it organic,” says Castell Howell ESG group manager Edward Morgan. “We all have to do better for our schools and our children to help increase nutritional standards and reduce the environmental footprint.”

The project, co-ordinated by Food Sense Wales and supported by the Welsh government, champions the importance of including sustainable Welsh produce in school menus and pays the difference between the higher price to procure Welsh sustainable vegetables and the usual price paid by a local authority. Wholesalers with existing contracts with local authorities, such as Castell Howell, will facilitate the link between organic growers and schools to support local growers to increase capacity and capability to supply the wider public sector.

“Creating this secure market reduces the risk for growers and enables the sector to expand, presenting opportunities to capitalise on efficiencies of scale and collaboration,” says Edward.

For Castell Howell, the secret to success is also speed: “The sooner the veg gets harvested, the quicker we can get them to depot and into schools to lose less nutritional value.”

The project aims to expand from 8 growers to 100 to bring in £1.5m of sales per year, which would increase the organic local sales to 10% of the estimated total vegetable purchases for schools, and save an estimated 60 tonnes of CO2e annually.