The Big Interview: Emma Mosey

The world of speciality retail, particularly farm retail, is constantly evolving. Especially now. With many farm shops having been founded in the 70s and 80s – when farmers diversified in a tricky climate against a background of high inflation and in response to the UK joining the EU – today, the next generation are stepping up, taking these businesses into a new era.

They’re joined by food lovers and agri-entrepreneurs. Those who might not come from traditional farming lineage, but who are invested in selling high quality produce, while keenly protecting and advocating for British food security.

Emma Mosey, current chair of the Farm Retail Association (FRA), has become a leading voice for change in the industry…but admits farming never factored into her ‘life plan’.

Emma had no real idea what farming involved until she met husband Ben, who IS of farming stock. After university the couple travelled the world, Ben pursuing his career as a geologist in the wilds of Australia and jungles of Indonesia, and Emma writing novels under the pen name Emma Chapman.

Settled back in Yorkshire, together they took on a farm shop in Minskip, Yorkshire,  transforming it into Yolk Farm, which opened in 2017, later unveiling the world’s first on-farm free-range egg restaurant.

Emma says she very quickly fell into step with this new way of life. In fact, today, farming feels “quite normal”. “I still feel like a fake farmer,” she laughs. “I wouldn’t say I get that involved in the hands-on running of the farm anymore, because we’ve got a team to do that, but I love being on the farm. And my husband’s definitely got the farming credentials.”

What Emma has learnt since opening Yolk Farm, and soon after joining the FRA, is how fragile food chains are in the UK. And how vitally important supporting farmers, producers and independent retail is.

Farm shops really matter. “I think that choosing where to shop is almost a political act,” she explains. “If you’re choosing to go to a farm shop or farmers’ market, you are choosing to support local businesses, putting money straight back into the economy. You’re also choosing to support farming, and a way of life that is essentially human. It comes back to the hunter-gatherer thing, and where we get our food from. I do think we’re losing our connection with that because food is becoming more ‘beige’ and ultra processed.”

This is, she says, inevitable in many ways, especially because of population growth. “But when you walk into a farm shop, or go to a farmers’ market you’re making a statement about preserving and protecting our food culture in a way that is vital to our future as a country, I think.”

Farm retailers are reporting greater footfall, something Emma too has noted. As more people steer away from ultra processed foods (UPFs) giving their diets an overhaul, getting back to the roots of a more natural way of eating, so farm shops and farmers’ markets, alongside butchers and grocers, have benefited. “The conversation and debate about ultra processed food has been going on for decades, since supermarkets started to grow,” Emma says. “There was obviously a need for them, to provide convenience as our lives changed, but definitely people are now more conscious about where their food comes from. They care about organic and local food. Parents care more about what their children are eating.”

Experiential shopping, where going to get the weekly groceries is more than hauling a load of bags into the boot of the car, has paved the way for the success of farm shops too, says Emma. “When you go into a farm shop it’s about the experience, not just what you’re buying. It’s becoming part of our leisure time, and rather than purely retail, these businesses can offer a learning experience and a cultural experience that says something about who we are,” she thinks.

Emma admits today 85% of Brits continue to shop in supermarkets, but “it’s not something that’s going to change. Most people work now, so they’re time-poor. You can’t shame people into independent retail. It’s not the way to change the dial.”

What farm shops CAN do, she continues, is tap into consumer desire for fresh, wholesome, natural food. To offer those experiences they crave. And to really listen to what it is they want. At Yolk Farm, for example, there is a skew towards produce they’ve grown themselves, and products they’ve made using homegrown ingredients. “It’s not that economic to grow your own produce and sell it,” Emma concedes, “but it is essential. We’ve discussed whether we should get rid of those aspects, because veg are not that financially viable compared to meat production or eggs. We felt, though, those core things are essential to our brand, and we realised that connection to the land and farming is what makes our industry unique. 

“The fact we’re growing our own produce and making things with it is quite amazing really, and rare today.”

Making a change

Emma has been involved with the FRA since 2018. “It was when our business was much smaller. I was brought on as the ‘Millennial new person’ to give them an insight into people coming into the industry.”

What struck her about the council was that it was “a group of really really passionate people who had known each other for over 20 years and a lot of them had been in the organisation for as long as it had been going. As a new person, who wasn’t from a farming background, I saw there was so much strength in terms of sharing knowledge, and that is powerful in our industry. But no one was talking about what they were doing outside of that. We needed a bigger voice in the UK.”

When she became chair, Emma says her personal remit, “because I really care about UK food culture” was to protect traditional farm retailing, while making it fit for the future.

That involved a rebrand and almost renaissance for the FRA, unveiled earlier this year. “I’d say 70% of our strategy was really defining who we are as an organisation, asking members what they wanted from us, and defining what the next five years look like.”

Emma says she had a “gut instinct about the opportunity to grow, and the opportunity to be a bigger voice for real local food.”

Over the next 18 months, the challenge for the FRA, Emma adds, is to take the data they’ve gathered, and use it to drive growth within the industry. “We’ve already increased member benefits considerably, but we’ll be speaking more widely to potential members, and beyond that to the consumer and the general public, trying to increase footfall further.”

Growing concerns

Alongside what the FRA, its members, and other farm retailers are doing, Emma believes much more could be enacted by policymakers in government and beyond to help ensure the ongoing sustainability of farming, farm shops and farmers’ markets.

That begins with addressing the financial pressures being felt more widely across food retail. “There’s been a lot of talk about the minimum wage and business rates going up, and the challenges those things pose. It looks likely that bricks and mortar businesses will pay more rates, which is ominous and worrying. If you add additional costs, many people will no longer have a buffer. I want to be a voice in those conversations.”

In terms of food, Emma is buoyed by the work Riverford Organic is carrying out around ‘farm washing’ and ‘British washing’. “Farm washing is when larger retailers make up farm names, using them to sell intensively farmed chicken and other produce – it’s basically trickery. And British washing is where you see British signs outside supermarkets, but you go inside and it’s very hard to find British produce. I think there needs to be more clarity from Trading Standards around the marketing terminology and what’s allowed,” she says.

A third worry is government schemes encouraging farmers to move away from growing food. “The idea behind that is it’s good for the environment, which is great,” agrees Emma. “But putting 100% of a farm down to wild meadow doesn’t benefit our food system. I think they’ve capped it now, or closed it for a while. If we lose 30% of our food through these schemes, it’s only going to increase prices.”

A way to make farms more profitable, Emma adds, is to diversify, just like many did during the 70s. “Another piece of research by Riverford showed a large percentage of farmers were planning on going out of business within the next 12 months,” she continues. “If those farmers considered diversifying, having another operation selling direct, it could make a big difference. I’d encourage any farmers thinking about doing that to get in touch with us.”

Looking to the future

Emma is confident farm retail has a strong, viable future, so long as operators look critically at figures and profitability. This is an especially important message for generational, or family business, where change can sometimes be slow or hard-won. “If we don’t have profitabolity, we won’t exist!”

She also thinks farm shops need to come together, to “make more noise about the industry. We do have an amazing story tell. And we’re all different and unique. I think if we can really communicate, we can grow and showcase what makes us special.”