Farming News - £5bn investment: Sainsbury’s expands long‑term farming agreements
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£5bn investment: Sainsbury’s expands long‑term farming agreements
- Expansion of long‑term partnership model with farmers in the UK and ROI creates one of the most extensive networks of multi-year farming agreements in the UK
- Long-term partnerships to represent £5bn of committed investment by Sainsbury's into UK and Ireland agriculture, across fresh produce, dairy, meat and poultry
- These partnerships will see 3.1m tonnes of Sainsbury's own brand fresh products will come from long-term agreements
- By the end of 2026, 60% of own brand suppliers of fresh produce, dairy, meat, fish and poultry will be in long-term agreements of over 5 years
- As farmers are facing increasing global volatility and climate challenges, long-term partnerships provide the certainty and reassurance to invest in the future
Strengthening the future of good food in the UK
Sainsbury's today announces the expansion of its long-term partnership model to 62 British berry farms, agreeing five new five-year contracts with Angus Soft Fruit, Chambers, Soft Fruits Direct, J.O. Sims and Dyson Farming. This marks a significant extension of the retailer's long-term agreements, following similar commitments already in place across categories including pork, poultry and dairy.
By 2027, more than 2,500 farms – all 100% British – will be backed by long-term contracts representing over £5 billion of committed investment and securing 3.1 million tonnes of homegrown fresh food. The expanded model will secure products across key areas including milk, carrots, mushrooms and chicken, helping ensure stability and resilience across the supply chain at a time when operating costs, climate pressures and global instability continue to impact farmers.
Soft fruit has typically relied on short term, seasonal agreements. These new long-term partnerships will give growers the security they need to invest in their future, including in sustainability and innovation. In turn, this will help secure the future of British berries and ensure customers can continue to enjoy great tasting, responsibly sourced fruit.
The need for support is clear. Defra research shows that only 33% of farmers feel positive about their future, continuing a downward trend3. Sainsbury's long‑term approach aims to reverse this by providing stability, shared planning and the backing farmers need to thrive.
Two decades of long-term investment
Sainsbury's started building long-term agreements nearly twenty years ago because volatility was making it harder for farmers to invest, recognising the only way to secure more British food and deliver value for customers is to give farmers certainty.
The approach began in 2007 with dairy farmers at a time when rising labour and energy costs were putting pressure on the industry. Sainsbury's pays its dairy farmers a fair cost‑of‑production price that moves with real-world costs - fuel, feed, fertiliser, giving farmers the stability to plan and invest even as costs fluctuate.
This commitment has since expanded across eggs, chicken and other key categories, supporting sustained investment in innovation, from advances in mushroom production to the development of the Taste the Difference Aberdeen Angus lower carbon beef range.
Today's announcement builds on this heritage, scaling a model that has already proven its ability to strengthen supply chains, improve animal welfare and support more sustainable farming practices, building on an existing network of over 15,000 British farmers.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of Sainsbury's said: "Good food is something people depend on every day. In uncertain times our focus is on keeping food great value for customers while giving farmers the reassurance and certainty they need to plan ahead.
"We're proud to lead the way on long term farming partnerships and cost of production models - with some of the longest in UK retail, backed by billions of pounds of committed investment. When farmers know what we'll buy, at what price and for how long, they can plan, invest and keep producing the great tasting, responsibly sourced British food our customers trust.
"By expanding these long-term agreements across more of our meat, dairy, fruit and veg, we're backing British and Irish farming for the future and bringing more homegrown food to our customers. This is how we protect quality, value and provenance in an uncertain world and how we help secure the future of good food for all of us."
Several existing partnerships are already helping to deliver impact for suppliers and customers, including the agreement Sainsbury's signed with Monaghan Mushrooms, Republic of Ireland, in 2025. The partnership has already enabled Sainsbury's to be the first supermarket in the UK to deliver conventional mushrooms grown without peat – an example of how longer-term agreements can unlock innovation and deliver better outcomes for customers.
Dairy farmer Charlie Burgoyne from Holmbush Farm, West Sussex, who has supplied Sainsbury's milk for over 15 years said: "These are incredibly challenging times for farmers, with the impacts of climate change, rising input costs and global instability creating real uncertainty across the sector. To keep our business resilient, we need the confidence to invest in our future. That's why long-term partnerships, like the one we have had with Sainsbury's for many years, are so important and vital to securing the future of the food system and British farming. Multi‑year agreements, underpinned by a fair cost‑of‑production model, give us the stability and confidence we need to plan ahead, invest for the future and sustain our farm for generations to come."