Steve Reed to reveal 50% public procurement targets for food

Defra secretary Steve Reed is due to reveal new targets to ensure that at least 50% of food supplied to the public sector is either homegrown by British farmers or certified to “higher environmental standards”.

Mr Reed will announce these new targets at the NFU conference on 25 February, as the Labour party looks to rebuild relationships with rural constituents, following controversial changes to agricultural property relief for inheritance tax as part of the autumn Budget.

The new measures are likely to require catering contracts for public service providers such as schools, hospitals, and prisons to respect the targets.

See also: NFU’s ‘clawback’ IHT proposal to Treasury could raise £686m

Mr Reed will say: “The government is committed to using its own purchasing power to back British produce.

“That means buying more British food where we can.

“This will help farmers compete for a fairer share of the £5bn a year spent on public-sector catering contracts.”

The government’s National Procurement Policy statement, released earlier this month, stated that the government wants to increase the proportion of public sector food that is certified to higher environmental standards, adding that local suppliers were well placed to meet this.

It also follows an announcement by Mr Reed at the Oxford Farming Conference on 9 January where he confirmed the government would monitor where food bought by the public sector comes from, and ensure farmers get a “fairer share”.

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The government’s intention for a target has generally been welcomed by the agricultural industry.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Labour’s manifesto commitment to sourcing 50% of food in the public sector from UK farmers was welcome and at our conference NFU members will be pleased to hear how ministers intend to make this a viable, attractive market.

“Given the numerous pressures being loaded onto UK farming, this will be a welcome positive.”

The 50% figure still falls short of the 60% self-sufficiency figure revealed in Defra’s own UK Food Security Report, published in December 2024.

However, these percentages vary between sectors, with homegrown cereals, meat, dairy and eggs typically higher than 60%, while fruit and vegetables are lower.