“Future Farmer” – the clue is in the name

A few months ago, I was given the opportunity to experience the realities of life for our domestic agricultural sector on a dairy farm. I found myself in the milking parlour of a farm in North Frisia at 4 am, before hitching a ride to the fields on the large slurry wagon and ensuring the calves had enough to drink. It was quite a varied and admittedly exhausting day, and I learned a lot from it. My work as a buyer usually has me sitting at my desk but it was important to me to see how things are done. As a food retailer, we ensure that people have access to supplies on a daily basis. However, the food we sell originates from fields and barns, most of which are here in this country, and we cannot overstate the part played by German agriculture. Nevertheless, the challenges facing the domestic sector are huge. My profession has given me insights into these issues, but we all became acutely aware of them during the protests at the start of the year, and my hands-on experience with the North-Frisian farming family has only reinforced my understanding.

At PENNY, we see ourselves as a neighbourhood discounter. We also want to be a good partner to German farmers and tackle these challenges together. We are doing a number of things to this end. Our partnerships, such as with the dairy company Berchtesgadener Land, is one example. Together, we launched the Future Farmer project in 2021. As the name implies, the initiative focuses on climate protection and sustainable support for family-run farms in the Alpine region.

Climate change and higher temperatures severely impact agriculture, and harvests are increasingly threatened by extreme weather events. At the same time, agriculture is also being called upon to contribute to climate protection. The Future Farmer project therefore promotes energy-saving initiatives and the use of renewable energy sources. Farmers from the cooperative dairy submit their proposals, such as for LED lighting, photovoltaic installations, storage systems and electric vehicle fleets. A specialist panel selects the best projects, which then receive financial backing of up to 10,000 euros, as well as expert support. We believe it is crucial to minimize the time between application and funding.

PENNY waives a percentage of the margin it makes on Future Farmer products while the Berchtesgadener Land dairy company earns double the sum. This demonstrates our collaborative approach to the project and its ongoing development. Our customers also have an important part to play in the success of Future Farmers. By buying the yoghurt, milk and cream produced, they are lending their support to the initiative. And, to me, this is one of the things that makes Future Farmers so special. The retail, processing, and agricultural sectors, along with consumers, are all part of the project and collectively support climate protection initiatives. The success is evident. To date, funding of around 1,800,000 euros has been awarded.

My colleagues and I recently visited our project partner in Bavaria. And I must say that we are all very proud of what has been achieved and of the fast and straightforward approach to collaboration. We also toured local farms that have received funding for their climate protection initiatives.

We are dedicated to working in partnership with farmers to implement more sustainable practices in milk and dairy production.

I fully recognise that a project such as Future Farmers will not eliminate all the challenges faced by the agricultural sector. But I believe in this type of project; projects that bring together all those involved in the value chain, promote dialogue, create transparency and encourage people to think outside the box. We are pursuing those same goals in our latest collaborative project, ‘Die faire Milch x milprima’. Through the first nationwide tripartite contract of its kind in the German food retail sector, we are bringing producers to the negotiating table. We are strongly committed to transparency and openness. The producers are on an equal footing not only when it comes to setting the terms and conditions but are also involved in the details such as packaging design. This pivotal step gives farmers greater certainty in terms of planning and more transparency. We have been delighted by the positive feedback from the agricultural sector in recent weeks and this has served to validate our decision.

In my view, our ‘Naturgut Junior-Bio-Helden’ range has been a prime example for years of our focused, tangible support for agriculture. The switch from conventional production to organic farming methods can entail significant expense for producers and usually takes up to three years to recoup, when products can be labelled and marketed as organic. However, with ‘Junior-Bio-Helden’, we lend farmers a helping hand by enabling them to already achieve a higher retail price in our stores throughout the transition process. In this way, PENNY promotes the expansion of organic farming, while minimising the risk to producers during the transition phase.

It fills me with pride that we, a discounter, consistently lead the way for the rest of the industry with projects such as these, especially in an environment characterised by a high degree of price sensitivity. We are also involved in talks with agricultural and political representatives in both Berlin and Brussels. At the European level and in Germany, politicians are seeking solutions that will keep more money in farmers’ pockets. If you want to shake things up, you have to get involved and break new ground – no more treading water. This will be our guiding principle as we continue to focus on these ideas in future, and on our customers, whose purchasing decisions shape the success of our projects and ultimately determine the future of German agriculture.

Let’s do this together!