Industry leaders have called for urgent action from Government, retailers and growers to unlock the growth potential of UK horticulture, following a major policy discussion at Fruit Focus 2026.

The discussion on the NFU Fruit Forum stage was a key session during the event’s 40th anniversary programme, bringing together senior figures from across the sector to discuss the development of the first horticulture growth plan.

The Horticulture Expert Grower Group has been tasked by Defra to help develop the plan, working alongside the UK Fruit and Vegetable Coalition and the Environmental Horticulture Group to identify barriers to growth and profitability, examine how costs and returns are shared across the supply chain, and explore ways to increase productivity and grow domestic and export markets.

Speaking during the panel discussion at Bradbourne House, East Malling, industry leaders said the sector has a major opportunity to shape future policy but warned growth will only be possible if growers are given the confidence to invest.

Christine McDowell, Senior Policy Specialist at the NFU, said the growth plan must focus on competitiveness rather than simply increasing production.

“In terms of growth, we don’t necessarily mean growth being volume driven,” she said. “From our perspective, it should be about ensuring competitiveness, with growth being a by-product of competitive businesses.”

The panel highlighted labour availability, planning, energy costs, water infrastructure, crop protection, retailer relationships, rising input costs and investment in automation as some of the most pressing issues holding the sector back.

Ali Capper, Chair of British Apples and Pears, said the UK horticulture sector is being held back by policy decisions that make it harder for growers to compete.

“The reality is that our sector in the UK is uncompetitive primarily because of a list of Government policies, and that has to be fixed,” she said.

“We’ve talked about access to labour and not knowing what visa numbers are for next year. But we’ve also got the most expensive labour in Europe. England and Wales no longer have a producer organisation scheme, and yet the rest of Europe, Scotland and Northern Ireland do. That is a competitive disadvantage.”

She added: “This is a really exciting, entrepreneurial sector, but we can’t do it when we get our hands tied behind our back by various Government policies that make us uncompetitive.”

Labour remained one of the strongest themes in the discussion, with the panel warning uncertainty around the Seasonal Worker visa scheme is undermining investment confidence.

Nick Marston, Chair of British Berry Growers, said seasonal workers remain essential to horticulture, despite growing interest in robotics and automation.

“Seasonal workers are essential to our industry,” he said. “Overseas workers form 98 or 99% of the harvest labour workforce in UK horticulture, certainly in the berry industry.”

He said growers are working hard to explore automation, robotics, new varieties and different harvesting systems, but warned these will not replace people quickly.

“Growers and the industry are working really hard on this, but that’s a long-term project and quite honestly it won’t replace people entirely. It might replace half of them, if we’re lucky, in maybe 10 or 15 or 20 years’ time.”

Mr Marston said the sector needs far greater certainty from Government if businesses are expected to keep investing.

“Growers are making significant capital investments, sometimes tens of millions of pounds in a new farm or a new big block of production,” he said. “The write-off period for that is going to be 10 to 20 years, but the grower doesn’t actually know whether he’s got the workforce to utilise the asset next year.

“What we’re asking for is clarity on the scheme itself. We’d like a five-year rolling scheme, so no more cliff edges.”

The panel also called for renewed support to replace the loss of the fruit and vegetable aid scheme, warning that the removal of producer organisation support has left growers at a competitive disadvantage.

John Walgate, Chief Executive of the British Growers Association, said: “The words that we hear all the time are level playing field. All the time.”

He said the previous scheme had provided important support for investment, collaboration and competitiveness.

“The fruit and vegetable aid scheme was not perfect, I think everybody would say it was not perfect, but it was great support. It worked really well, and we can’t see the logic in losing it. Reform would have been the right thing, not to lose it.”

Mr Walgate warned that relatively small changes in support or cost can have a major impact on business viability.

“Four percent might sound like a small figure, but it’s huge. Two percent can be the difference between survival and failure,” he said.

Energy costs were also raised as a major barrier, particularly for protected cropping businesses such as glasshouse tomato, cucumber and pepper growers.

Simon Conway, Chair of the British Tomato Growers Association and British Pepper & Cucumber Growers Association, said the scale of investment required in modern glasshouse production means businesses need long-term confidence.

“A glasshouse nowadays is between £2.5 million and £5 million a hectare to build,” he said. “If you’re building glass at that cost, you need a long-term view.”

He warned that energy charges are now undermining confidence in large-scale UK glasshouse investment.

“I’ve had two business owners say to me, the UK is un-investable for large-scale glasshouse unless you run as an island and build gas turbines and don’t connect to the grid.”

However, Mr Conway also pointed to significant growth opportunities if the right conditions are created.

“We are about 20% self-sufficient in tomatoes and cucumbers,” he said. “We’ve got massive growth opportunity. UK retailers want to buy British tomatoes and cucumbers.”

The panel also discussed the impact of uncertainty around crop protection and the UK’s future alignment with the EU on active substances and maximum residue levels.

Mr Conway said the sector urgently needs clarity so that growers and the wider supply chain can plan ahead.

“What we know is that the end game for crop protection specifically is alignment with the EU on actives and MRLs,” he said. “That is where the end game is, and that is going to happen.

“What we don’t know is timings, transitions and agreements. We need visibility so the whole supply chain can plan, from chemical manufacturers to distributors and growers. At the moment, we are completely blind to that.”

While much of the discussion focused on Government action, the panel also stressed that the growth plan should include clear responsibilities for the supply chain and growers themselves.

Ms McDowell said: “The growth strategy is very much being pitched by the partnership board to be co-designed. Actions will either be focused on Government actions, industry actions and grower actions.

“So it’s not all about what Government can do. It should also include what the supply chain should do to help us grow, and what growers can do to help themselves to grow.”

The need for better coordination on research and innovation was another major theme, with speakers calling for grower-led research that focuses on practical solutions to commercial challenges.

Ms Capper said: “There were some good models in the past where growers would lead with what the problems and issues were, and then through a good governance model that involved both Government funding and our academic community, ensure that we are landing the right, primarily applied research - practical, sleeves-rolled-up, muddy-boots research - onto our farms and across our horticultural enterprises.”

She added: “What we need to do is see that happening across the whole of UK horticulture, not just in pockets. Then there are all the other things we need to do like climate adaptation, AI, automation and robotics.

“We’ve got too many people all trying to solve the same problem behind walls. I want to put them all in a room and bring all those brilliant brains together to solve problems together for our sector.”

The panel also identified audit burden as a key area where the supply chain could take action to reduce duplication, cost and complexity for growers.

Ms McDowell said one of the asks to the Partnership Board would be to establish a dedicated subgroup to tackle the issue.

“We want the Partnership Board to set up a subgroup to really tackle that audit burden that the industry has and address the problems around duplication, costs, etc.”

The NFU Fruit Forum discussion took place as Fruit Focus celebrated its 40th anniversary and its first year at Bradbourne House, East Malling, Kent.