John Shropshire opened his speech at the 2025 City Food and Drink Lecture by asking the audience: “Why are we cutting food production, putting food security at risk, for the sake of greening and reworking the environment?”
He raised concerns that the removal of productive farm land from food production with schemes, and seeming priorities, to increase rewilded areas was merely pushing environmental challenges overseas by requiring the production of food in a less suitable climate.
John, the chairman of G’s, called for a vision for UK food production, stating that resilience was simple; it’s a matter of doing the right thing in the right way in the right place. The changing climate, he said, was a challenge but also an opportunity for British farmers in this temperate, maritime climate which gives the country an advantage in the range of products that can be grown here.
G’s has made substantial investments amounting to more than £350m in the past decade, building resilience, reducing labour costs, raising environmental standards and improving food standards and consumer value. The company has supported precision breeding and the integration of AI across the business, delivering better data analysis and better use of results to inform business strategy and support customers.
The success of the G’s business has come from what John referred to as relentlessly investing in people, technology and the future. In the 73 years of the family owned and run business, the principles of John’s father Guy have been at the heart of every decision.
The farming pioneer always worked on the twin mantras of “the customer is always right” and “treat people as you wish to be treated”, said John, adding: “Everything else is overheads.” A good farming business is always about improving things and enhancing the lives of others, he said.
With G’s turnover now £730m a year, the company’s aim is to be the number one or two supplier in each crop they work in and with every retailer, building a close relationship with customers; they must do an outstanding job, day in, day out.
John acknowledged, though, that the market place was difficult and said contract pricing, originally a risk mitigation strategy, had over the past 15 years created a situation where everyone was removed from market reality. He compared contracts to a welfare state, which “keep you alive but not thriving”.
John said there was little upside for the best growers, suggesting that in no other market in the world would buyers reject dynamic pricing according to supply and demand and that there was no flexibility in seasonal pricing that could not respond to weather and political challenges. Farming has the lowest returns and the lowest bankruptcy rate and was being kept in a subjugated state, he said.
John called for reform of the “bonkers” planning regulations that he said smothered thriving farming businesses and saw beneficial business investments that would increase food security falling at the first hurdle, stopped by inaccurate data on the environmental impact of the sector and an obsession with rewilding rather than feeding the population. He said the land use framework should be making this a grown-up debate about where we want to place food vs schools vs houses and how we find the granular detail needed to make intelligent decisions.
John Shropshire delivered a thought provoking, farmer and food-focused lecture which was one of the strongest in recent years, raised many questions and challenged the audience not to accept the status quo.
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