Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Grain gain: Camgrain’s Linton operations in Cambridgeshire, which are undergoing a £12m upgrade

 New jobs are being created by the venture and scores of rural-related jobs secured.

The touchpaper to the potential international bonanza has been lit by a £4 million grant to the organisation behind the venture – farmers’ co-operative Camgrain – by the East of England Development Agency.

EEDA’s backing will leverage a further £8 million-plus of private sector funding to complete the new eco-friendly processing centre at Linton.

It will save around 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year when completed.

The funding will be used over five years for new state-of-the-art facilities that will be cleaner, greener and more efficient than ever witnessed at such a processing plant. 

Guaranteeing farm-to-shelf traceability, the new facilities will allow Camgrain to process and store an additional 90,000 tonnes every year.

Locally grown combinable crops such as milling wheat and malting barley will be processed into high-grade food ingredients, significantly increasing the value of these crops for supply to local and global customers.

Wheat farmer John Latham, who is Camgrain chairman, said: “This new processing centre is of huge regional significance and will result in a world-class facility that will establish Camgrain as a premier, first-time processor of combinable crops in the UK and as a globally-ranked competitor in the sector.

“The state-of-the-art clean technology in the new centre will add value to cereals grown in the region, reduce CO2 emissions, create significant third party supplier benefits and create new business and employment opportunities.”

The funding boost for Camgrain will mean five full-time and 10 seasonal jobs being created. At least 60 jobs among member businesses will be secured.

The increased price achievable for grain of assured quality will result in business growth worth £2.1 million per year for producers (farmer members). 

Third party suppliers will also benefit from increased income every year of approximately £1.5 million. Carbon savings per year will be 360 tonnes, expected to rise to 1,000 tonnes per year following completion of the project.

Over the past 10 years, tonnage handled at Camgrain’s Linton site has more than doubled to reach over 160,000 tonnes per annum.

As a result of its increased volumes and guaranteed quality, Camgrain has gained growing acceptance amongst leading food and drink processors in both domestic and export markets as the supplier of choice for their process ready ingredients. 

A recent deal with Sainsbury’s to supply all its requirements for flour for its in-store bakeries is the latest ground breaking example of this success.

Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said: “By raising productivity, being innovative and saving energy Camgrain will be playing a vital role in helping the region’s food and drink sector be more competitive in a global marketplace and also help to safeguard local jobs.”