10 | LUXlife Magazine Farming Cooperative of the Year 2024 - Scotland East of Scotland Growers (ESG) was founded in 1987 as a cooperative to help independent arable farmers get the best value for their vegetables. Located in Cupar, Fife, ESG’s wide range of vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, leeks, sprouts, carrots, asparagus and organic brassicas, all of which are grown within a 180-mile radius of Scotland. ESG’s purpose is to maximise the return to our members, by connecting and aligning them with one another and with the marketplace. For 37 years, collaboration has remained the root of everything ESG does. Their growing teamwork gives ESG unmatched scale and diversity, enabling innovation and improved efficiency like no other. By working together, ESG helps its growers cultivate their farming businesses, achieve new milestones, adapt more easily to economic, environmental and political challenges, and opens doors to markets that were previously beyond their reach. ESG makes this possible by providing specialised services to the growers, allowing growers to focus on what they do best — growing and harvesting their crops — while also benefiting from ESG’s expertise in every aspect of vegetable production and sales. From agronomy and technical support to logistics and marketing advice, ESG is there to lend a helping hand. By maintaining this structure, ESG ensures quality is built into every step of the process, with all growers proudly accredited by Assured Produce, LEAF, and Nurture. Exploring the services offered by ESG in more detail, this farming cooperative carries out everything from planning and programming, and agronomy through to customer communications, sales, and quality control. Moreover, from its central office, this farming cooperative also executes research and development [both in existing crops and new], administration, and finance, positioning it as a collective capable of instilling benefits both on a member level and for the whole of its group. Hence, even after almost 40 years, ESG’s focus is still to provide a grower with maximum returns. ESG meticulously combines such elements as location, technology, and testing to ensure that members can produce the highest-quality Brassica crops. For example, because every single one of its growing and packing facilities is located amongst Scotland’s famed fertile and arable soils, its production is more focused and offers uniform quality. This also ensures all crops can be irrigated during dry spells, preserving their freshness even through the summer. Once they are grown and picked, the crops are then stored in state-of-the-art cold stores, which have been invested in heavily by ESG members over the years because of the unique insights they have been provided. As a result, its members today share more than 1,000,000 cubic feet of cold storage between them, and the aim across the collective is to have produce stored safely in these areas within two hours of harvest, again underpinning this commitment to unrivalled freshness that has permeated across ESG for several decades. Finally, ESG’s utilisation of cutting-edge weather station technology allows for the accurate monitoring and prediction of weather conditions, which helps immeasurably when it comes to scheduling and refining production. A key advantage to this technology is being able to assist when it comes to timing cultivations; managing irrigation, pest, and disease control; and harvesting at the right time. Leaps like this are made possible by the more than 350 trial plots ESG’s members work on every year, spanning everything from varieties to new crops and looking at ways of aiding cultivation through to harvest. ESG’s small, experienced team—many with over a decade at the company—continues to explore new opportunities for members, focusing on their unique strengths and commitment to growing together for a better future. East of Scotland Growers exemplifies the power of true farming cooperation and is a leader in its field. Contact: Lisa Eagles, General Manager Company: East of Scotland Growers Web Address: http://esgveg.co.uk/ Nov24147
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