The BFFF Young Leaders Forum (YLF) met once again last week to experience the process of speedy peas. 

The group were welcomed to Greenyard Frozen in Boston by Stuart Ashton, Agriculture Manager, and Jasmine Collins, Trainee Agriculture Manager where the Young Leaders learnt about some of the challenges with growing and processing speedy peas. 

Once the group was briefed and dressed in suitable PPE, the Young Leaders went for a factory tour of the processing facilities where they saw the peas arriving on-site straight from the field and following the process through to the peas being packed.  

Once the Young Leaders finished their tour, they headed over to Dyson Farming’s Carrington site, where they met with Steve Barker, Commercial Director and Jim Hayes, Farm Manager for lunch before the Young Leaders got to finish their tour of the speedy peas by walking some of the pea fields and seeing the pea viners. Rhys Jones and his harvesting team talked to the group about the pea viner and how it picks up the crop, separates the peas from the pod and then travels through the viner ready to be transferred into the trailer. 

The Young Leaders were then lucky enough to take a look inside Dyson’s 15-acre strawberry glasshouse (for scale, this is the equivalent of nine football pitches). The group found it such an incredible experience to see the millions of strawberries growing in their rows.  

The glasshouse is powered with renewable electricity and surplus heat from Dyson Farming’s anaerobic digester. The glasshouse has 832 rows of strawberries and over 700,000 plants, which can produce 750 tonnes of strawberries each year for British consumers. Their highly efficient circular farming approach has enabled the business to become carbon neutral.  

The Young Leaders were lucky enough to pick some strawberries to enjoy at home and claimed they were the tastiest strawberries they have ever eaten. Dyson Farming supplies Marks and Spencer with their fabulous strawberries, so when you are next in an M&S store, take a look and see if you can spot Dyson Strawberries – trust us, they are worth every penny! 

Overall, it was a really insightful and enjoyable day and the Young Leaders Forum would like to thank everyone at Greenyard Frozen and Dyson Farming for being so welcoming and accommodating and for answering the group’s never-ending questions! 

The British Frozen Food Federation runs the Young Leaders Forum to develop the future leaders of the industry through organising onsite educational visits, talks from industry experts and networking opportunities for the group. The group’s next visit is on the 29th of September at Whitby Seafood to see, first-hand, how their operation works and the challenges they face in the fish category. 

If you work for a BFFF member company, are under 35 and are eager to learn more about the industry you work in, talk to Holly Jones or Harry Hinks for more information.