Farmers attending the NFU Cymru Pembrokeshire County Conference recently explored the other side of the food supply chain with guest speaker Edward Morgan of Castell Howell Foods.

Speaking at the conference, held at the Nantyffin Hotel, Llandissilio last month, Edward Morgan, Group CSR Manager provided members with a detailed overview of how Castell Howell Foods has developed as a business, as well as highlighting the company’s guiding principles.

He explained that the firm was founded in 1988 by a single family with one farm and one lorry, but over the years the business has flourished and in 2023 the company operates from six sites with 180 lorries. The company has over 5,000 customers and 14,000 products, making it a major player in the Welsh food supply chain.

During his speech, Edward Morgan highlighted the importance that Castell Howell Foods places on the sustainability credentials of Welsh agriculture and the increasing interest that customers are taking in the carbon cost of the food they consume.

Edward Morgan also stated that he felt there was an opportunity for Castell Howell Foods to work with NFU Cymru, and partners, to engage with school children and educate them about the importance of nutritious, locally sourced food. He emphasised that engagement with pupils should also encompass the environmental, economic, social and cultural importance of food production in Wales.

Picking up from Edward Morgan’s presentation, NFU Cymru President Aled Jones told members that the Welsh food and farming sector is part of an £8.5 billion industry employing a quarter of a million people. He highlighted that it was in the interests of the whole Welsh food and farming sector to work together to continue this success story. During his address, Aled Jones also updated members on the progression of the Agriculture (Wales) Bill and told members that NFU Cymru has lobbied hard to stress that food production must be an integral component of this new legislation. Mr Jones also updated members on the union’s work around the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme, bovine TB and water quality.

The county conference also saw the NFU Cymru Pembrokeshire county branch present the W Rees Owen Memorial Award, an annual award to a young person from Pembrokeshire studying for a qualification in agriculture. The award, along with a £50 prize, was presented to Sara Davies of Fferm Glanyfer in Crosswell, who is currently in the first year of a two-year Level 3 apprenticeship in agriculture at Coleg Sir Gar’s Gelli Aur campus.

Recommending Sara for the award Liz Bowes, Curriculum Head for Land Based Studies at Coleg Sir Gar, said Sara was a ‘proactive student who always puts 110% into her studies’ while also running her own cake making business, ‘SaraBaraJam’.

Speaking after the conference, NFU Cymru Pembrokeshire County Chairman Simon Davies said:

“Members have had a very enjoyable evening listening to Edward Morgan giving us a potted history of Castell Howell Foods’ growth, the company’s role in the supply chain and its vision for the future. It was really pleasing to hear that even though the company has grown so substantially over the years, its family and community values are still at the core of what continues to make the business such a success.

“The themes of education and the next generation were also prevalent among much of the evening’s discussion and so it was pleasing that the county branch has been able to recognise Sara Davies as the winner of this year’s W Rees Owen Memorial Award. It is encouraging to know that we have such dedicated young people studying agriculture in Wales and this passion from the next generation will be important in continuing to drive our industry forward in the future.”