Southburn East Riding of YO25 9ED

Tel: 01377 229491 Email: [email protected]

16 September 2019

Dear Grower 2019 Pea Harvest

We completed the 2019 campaign on Friday 30 August. It has been a good season with excellent crops, vined and processed by reliable equipment and well managed teams. Matthew’s report (attached) gives a more detailed summary. 104% pack is satisfactory in any season but when it comes from 83% of drilled acreage it demonstrates the very good yielding crops produced by yourselves.

The Yorkshire Greens processing plant worked very well freezing 13,677T of peas and beans. Not only were we better organised, we experienced the benefit of investment in world class equipment and technology. For example, we are the best d’Arta factory for energy consumption further enhancing our credentials with customers who place a high emphasis on carbon footprints.

The d’Arta marketing team have been busy agreeing contracts with retail and food service customers. The highest profile contract is with Morrisons for peas, which is part of a much larger contract for frozen vegetables. You will see the new branded packs in Morrisons stores which look eye-catching and reflect a quality product.

The final payment for the 2018 crop is £63.22 per acre (taxable income) before loan retention of £30.76 per acre so the net payment will be £32.46 per acre to be paid by the end of September. This means the total return (to be declared for tax) for 2018 will be £343.22 per acre versus the forecast of £330 per acre.

Whilst we are still finalising the grade profile and harvest operational costs, we forecast the 2019 return to be in excess of £500 per acre. I will write to you in late October with an updated forecast.

We have decided to move the AGM date to February each year. This time of year seems to suit Growers better and allows us to combine a Growers workshop prior to drilling commencing. Yorkshire Greens have further plans to add products that can be processed at the factory so we can present those in more detail. We will advise you of the February date in due course.

We hope you are finding the refreshed Swaythorpe Growers website useful; www.swaythorpegrowers.com and are managing to log in to the Growers area.

We continue to sign up new Growers for 2020. Even at this late stage it will be helpful for Matthew to know of suitable potential growers he could contact.

Many thanks for growing some really decent crops in 2019 and the understanding, for those bypassed, with some equally decent crops. The forecasted result demonstrates that the overall Group return is the most important number.

Kind regards

Tim Rymer

Vat Reg No: GB 647 5184 15 Registered in No 3165809 Registered Office: Southburn, Driffield, YO25 9ED