Camgrain and Frontier renew marketing agreement

Farmer-owned co-operative Camgrain has renewed its grain marketing agreement with Frontier Agriculture for another five years.

The deal – which extends an agreement made in 2014 – means Frontier will continue to be Camgrain’s principle marketing, distribution and strategic partner until 2024.

See also: Farm business – Crop markets, prices and trends

The five-year extension was announced on Tuesday (14 May) during a pre-harvest open day for growers at Camgrain’s Balsham site in Cambridgeshire.

Camgrain has more than 500,000 tonnes of storage capacity supported by processing facilities, blending technology and food industry-standard accreditation.

Maximising value

Company chairman John Latham said: “For us, it is all about building relationships down the supply chain and maximising the value of members’ crops.”

Frontier was a highly effective marketing business, said Mr Latham.

The partnership gave Camgrain’s 500 members a route into premium markets they probably couldn’t access on their own, he added.

The partnership was all about maximising Camgrain’s investment in storage and marketing while reducing the amount of risk faced by members.

“The riskiest part of the supply chain is the trading side of it – we have seen problems elsewhere and we don’t want to replicate them,” he said.

Mutual respect

Frontier had proved to be highly professional, he added.

There was mutual respect and an increasing level of trust between the two companies, which had built up over the duration of the partnership agreement.

Frontier managing director Mark Aitchison said: “It makes sense for us because not only do we buy a lot of grain from farmers, we also sell them a lot of inputs.

“We admired Camgrain’s investment in physical facilities and state-of-the-art storage – and its ability to organise the supply chain for upstream customers.

“I’m very pleased that the board has decided to renew our agreement. We are very proud of the relationship – it is working very well.”

Mr Aitchison added: “It is a powerful combination and we think we can add more value for Camgrain members and the food industry as a result.”