Yorkshire farmers launch own pea brand

A group of 40 farmers are launching a new brand of frozen peas that will be marketed as “Yorkshire Peas”.

Swaythorpe Growers is aiming to take on the multi-nationals and become the first fully farmer-owned brand of peas, sold through supermarkets and independent retailers.

Matthew Hayward, a director of Yorkshire Peas, said: “Swaythorpe Growers wanted to move away from commodity farming into something we had more control over.

“The peas are all grown by family farms based on the Yorkshire Wolds and then frozen locally at a facility owned by one of our growers.

“We’re fully in control of every step of the process, so developing a brand seemed a logical & practical step to developing a new market.”

Mr Hayward said the co-op was n talks with a number of retailers about stocking the product which taps into demand for locally-produced food.

“Clearly, we’re taking on massive multinational competition, but I feel that “local food” should not be confined to some muddy carrots at the local farm shop. It should extend to how most of us cook, shop, and eat,” he said.

“What consumers don’t always consider is that much of the frozen vegetable offering in the supermarkets are not British grown. So in developing Yorkshire Peas, we’re giving consumers a choice to support the British Farming industry.