A collaboration between purchasing group Anglia Farmers (AF) and specialist recruitment consultancy Redfox has been launched to offer significant savings for fresh produce and horticultural businesses.

The new Redfox AF Fresh Sector Membership will bring the savings and efficiencies of AF - the UK’s largest agricultural purchasing group with a buying power of over £250 million - to a wide range of fresh produce and horticultural businesses through collaboration with Redfox.

The Redfox AF Fresh Sector Membership will help to reduce the cost of a wide range of goods and services, from key inputs to electricity, building materials and fleet vehicles, delivering significant savings for organisations in the agri-business, horticultural and fresh produce sectors.

As well as offering significant cost savings, Redfox AF Fresh Sector Members will benefit from a professional procurement service, backed up with streamlined administration and a clear billing system. Acting as the procurement arm for many businesses, AF helps to reduce its members’ administrative functions, improve efficiency and save time.

Members of the bespoke scheme will experience the benefits of AF membership, with savings being secured by the not-for-profit organisation’s large team of product specialist buyers.

With 50 years of experience working for agri-businesses, the venture will see AF move into new industry sectors and will also be an added-value customer offering for Redfox.

Redfox MD Max MacGillivray said: “We believe that the purchasing group is going to be hugely advantageous to the fresh produce and horticultural sectors as a whole, enabling the members to benefit from on-going cost reductions for vital elements of their business.

“With margins under constant pressure, freeing up profitability from their supply chain will be to the long term benefit of their enterprise.”

AF CEO Clarke Willis said: “Collaborative purchasing together with back office administration is a key competence of AF. We are delighted to be partners in this important initiative for the fresh produce sector.”

The Redfox AF Fresh Sector Membership will be officially launched at the Fresh Produce Journal Conference in Cambridge on Thursday 7 March.