Brexit forces UK farmer to move production to China

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Europe

Concerns over Brexit, and a warmer business environment in China have convinced one of the UK’s largest fruit producers to move its business almost 9,000 kilometers away to the southwestern Yunnan Province.

Haygrove – one of the UK’s largest berry growers – will relocate some of its blueberry and raspberry production from Herefordshire to the Chinese province, amid ongoing insecurity over how Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will affect the farm’s workforce and business.

Angus Davison, founder and owner of Haygrove’s, told The Guardian that his business relied heavily on migrant workers from the EU to pick fruit every year, and the lack of assurances over the future status of such workers was one of the main push factors behind the move to China.

“We are reducing our employment this year by 200 people, 20 percent of our workforce, in anticipation of problems we can’t afford and we are investing in China instead.”

With the British government so far refusing to give the UK’s agricultural sector firm assurances over what Brexit will mean for their businesses, Davison said that the governor of Yunnan Province, Ruan Chengfa, had a “remarkable understanding” of berry farming. He added that Ruan had offered confidence and positivity to the farm, unlike the UK authorities.

Yunnan's temperate climate means agriculture is one of the province's key industries. /VCG Photo

The UK government is set to hold talks with its counterparts in Brussels on the future direction of its relationship with the EU as well as the status of EU workers, but a growing number of businesses have vocally expressed their frustration at the lack of progress made.

While a number of major businesses, manufacturers and financial corporations are reportedly considering moving staff out of the UK and into European cities like Dublin and Paris, the UK’s agricultural sector could suffer significant damage from Brexit, depending on how negotiations progress.

The UK’s National Farmers Union (NFU) said that 2017 saw 4,300 job vacancies unfilled. Of the workers employed on farms to pick produce, 99 percent of seasonal workers were from Eastern Europe, while only 0.6 percent came from the UK. The labor shortage meant tons of food was left to rot in fields across the country.

Alison Capper, the head of the NFU’s horticultural board, told The Independent that the crisis facing British farmers was forcing them to look at “other parts of Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China.”

Dali, Yunnan Province /VCG Photo‍

Yunnan Province, famed for its tea production, enjoys a warm climate all-year round, and its location in southwest China on the border of Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam means it is in an ideal location to export produce to Southeast Asia.

Starbucks chose Yunnan to set up its first ever coffee farm in China in 2010, and since then has established several Farmer Support Centers, which the chain claims have trained 10,000 farmers in the region.

Starbucks has grown rapidly in China in recent years, with one store opening every 15 hours in 2017, according to the company's China CEO Belinda Wong. /VCG Photo

Yunnan’s potential as a wine-growing region has also attracted Moet Hennessy, with China Daily reporting in 2012 that LVMH – the conglomerate behind Moet and luxury brands like Louis Vuitton – invested in a 30-hectare site in the province with the aim of producing “quality red wine” for Chinese consumers.