Red Tractor logo keeps on ploughing straight ahead

Past AFS chairman Colin Smith tells Iona Walton the secrets of the scheme’s success

Colin Smith’s stint at Assured Food Standards (AFS) drew to a close at the end of 2009. The former chairman of the organisation behind the Red Tractor logo has worked in the food service industry for 30 years and taken the Red Tractor from its early stages to one of the most recognised logos in the UK.

“As chairman I instituted a research study across the food chain to investigate how the Red Tractor could engage consumers better,” he recalls. “The results showed stakeholders, including consumers, trusted AFS because it’s an independent not for profit organisation owned by the whole food chain with no single commercial interest dominating. The key finding was that there was a need for a single definitive logo that consumers could trust.”

In Spring 2006 the logo was relaunched at a photoshoot in Downing Street attended by key stakeholders, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State. “Support from the entire food chain and politicians gave the logo the recognition, credibility and publicity it needed to drive forward uptake,” says Mr Smith. “Within three years its use had doubled from £5 billion worth of food sold every year displaying the logo to £10bn in 2009.”

Concerns are rife about the challenge of feeding the growing world population, but Mr Smith insists we must tackle this huge issue with sustainability in mind. “The need to produce more food in a sustainable way could enable us to stabilise and reverse the decline in the proportion of home-produced food,” he says. “UK farmers have proved themselves to be dedicated professional producers of food and guardians of the countryside. They’re resilient and adaptable, as shown by how livestock farmers recovered from foot-and-mouth disease, the way they’ve had to deal with changes flowing from the Single Farm Payment system and the way they cope with the increasing burden of regulation.”
UK farmers operate in one of the world’s more competitive retail marketplaces. Much progress has been made by farmers to connect with their customers and consumers and the supply chain as a whole is working and communicating more effectively, but there is still more to do across the board and at AFS.

“The future success of the Red Tractor logo hinges on AFS evolving its assurance standards to meet the requirements of the marketplace,” Mr Smith states. “If standards continue to develop with the need to maintain sustainable and economic production firmly in mind, the food industry will keep supporting the Red Tractor, rather than each retailer developing its own standards and assurance marks, causing extra work for farmers and confusion for consumers.”

Having become well established on supermarket shelves, the next arena for the logo to master is the food service sector. “When people do their food shopping they expect what they buy to be safe, offer high welfare standards and they want to know where their food comes from,” says Mr Smith. “The Red Tractor logo is a shorthand way of demonstrating these things. Why should people going into food service outlets expect less?”

AFS is spreading the message in the food service and public sectors and has had a 60% increase in the past 12 months, taking the number of food service outlets up to 1,500.

Once the ball is rolling, the news for British farmers just gets better, states Mr Smith: “When AFS signs up food service outlets, wholesalers or caterers to use the Red Tractor logo, they often change their entire sourcing policy to UK-assured product, which is great news for farmers.”