The growing interest in environmentally-friendly food reveals that producers who practice strict farm management and compliance are on the right track. With her business-savvy free-from philosophy, Rebecca Rayner, owner and manager of Glebe Farm agrees, as she increasingly supplies organic flours and healthy baked products to domestic and international markets. Evie Serventi reports.

Glebe Farm, winner of two Sustainable Business awards, sprawls comfortably over 500 acres among the rolling hills of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, UK.
The family-owned business grows, mills and supplies an extensive range of organic and gluten-free flours, bread-and cake mixes to national independent retailers.
Organic crops make up half of the farm’s cropland.
Rebecca Rayner’s 14 years of industry experience and strong marketing background has seen her turn the modest farm into a thriving business with an annual flour turnover of £230,000 in value and 120,000 tonnes in volume.
Securing national distribution in Waitrose for the gluten-free range has strengthened the company’s supply chain and today Glebe Farm products are exported to the Middle East, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Asia is on the horizon after a recent recommendation from UK Trade & Investment gave her the opportunity to provide a Japanese catalogue company a quote for the farm’s bread mixes.
Rayner took over Glebe Farm in 1998 and started bread-baking using other people’s flour in 2001, selling at regional Farmers Markets. Four years of manning stands, national exhibitions and listening to customer queries led to the passionate entrepreneur supplying her own flour mixes from grain grown on the family farm. Rayner identified opportunities for gluten-free products and also began growing and milling spelt.
“I wanted to do something new so I looked at added value. I have always been avid about the environmental damage that we all cause so the organic range is something I feel strongly about,” she concedes. Rayner isn’t alone.
Last year the EU launched the Organic Farming Campaign under the slogan ‘Organic farming: good for nature, good for you’ to inform consumers about the meaning and benefits of organic farming and food production. The promotion was spurred by the increasing number of consumer use and interest in organic products.
Rayner is an avid supporter of sustainable agriculture and keeping food miles to a minimum, all too aware of how food miles can creep up along the food industry supply chain.
“Many people are concerned about food miles. We have two stone mills on site and use three local windmills all within a 20-mile radius.
“It is important these local industries are supported.
“We are also looking at installing a small turbine to power the farm,” Rayner adds.
Glebe Farm applied to the government for funding to grow organic crops and it passed its latest organic inspection in early June. Growing organic crops involves committing to disciplined farm management practices including crop rotation, compliance and certification. As well as being community-conscious Rayner realises the value of brand identification.
“We are targeting people who are looking for provenance.
“At the moment we don’t have any weed control for the organic crops but that is something we hope will be developed in the future with something like essential oils,” Rayner says.
On that note, the fact that some fossil-based chemical fertilizers have doubled in the last year is likely to have a positive impact on organic ingredient providers according to the UK Soil Association, due to the sharp rise in costs of farming conventional crops.
“There is a rising demand for wheat and gluten free – which is our best seller,” Rayner continues. And despite its old-fashioned image, low-yield and high-cost production, Rayner says spelt is increasingly popular because it seems to be easier to digest.
“We grow half a tonne of spelt per acre, two tonnes of organic wheat per acre and four tonnes of conventional wheat per acre.” Conventional wheat fetches around £120 per tonne, organic wheat about £175/£220 per tonne. Organic spelt is about £1000 a tonne.
Organic crop production is increasing. In January 2008 the UK had 38,392 hectares of organic cereals and 13,152 hectares of ‘in conversion’ cereals land compared to 35,550 and 11,907 respectively in January 2007.
In the US sales of organic products (food and non-food) grew by 17 per cent from 2007 to 2008 according to the 2009 Organic Industry Survey released by the Organic Trade Association.
The survey results indicate organic food sales now account for about 3.5 per cent of all US food product sales.
The UK-based Soil Association recently reported that sales of organic health and beauty products in the UK rose by 69 per cent to £27 million despite the recent economic turmoil. The findings suggest that despite tough retail conditions and the premiums attached to organic products, consumers are remaining loyal to principles associated with ethical and environmentally responsible consumption patterns.

However, while some UK-based organic stores have seen monthly sales increase by as much as 40 per cent, supermarkets are seeing a significant decrease in sales of organic products, reports Rebecca Davis for the BBC news online.
Some experts identify the mark up on some ethical products as the cause for this drop in sales and suggest consumers remain price-sensitive, particularly in light of the economic downturn.
While many people are now buying whole foods Rayner agrees there has been a slump in the organic sector because of the recession, although she highlights one positive.
“We are a small enterprise which means there is less risk. “We have an artisan ethos. I love what I do,” she grins.
Aiming for a lower price point and a fresh look, Glebe Farm is launching its new packaging range this autumn and is in the process of launching scone mixes.
Rebecca also has plans to build a new on-site bakery and is busy focusing on expanding her free-from baked products range.
“I enjoy the development side of the work. We are launching a sugar-free white spelt and cranberry scone mix which has been a real challenge and we are also developing our gluten-free range, launching a gluten-free sultana scone mix aimed at the special diets market.”
Glebe Farm’s free-from future looks bright and may soon be, quite literally, flying high.
“We have started selling our flour and gluten-free muffin mixes to 70 schools through the local council. We are also in discussions with an airline about producing a gluten-free roll for them,” Rayner concludes.
Visit: www.glebe-flour.co.uk