A combined HGCA exports mission and levy payer study tour met in Morocco last week to champion UK cereals.

In 2013/14 Morocco had an import requirement of around 3.8 million tonnes of milling wheat, and imported 15,000t of UK wheat, worth approximately £2.3m.

Opening up the biscuit market was a key part of this mission, with 2014/15 marking the second season of uks (biscuit wheat) exports from the UK to Morocco.

The visit built on the success of biscuit-making workshops in 2013 and 2014, which helped 7,500t biscuit wheat imports to be allowed into Morocco for the first time in 2013, at a value of around £1.2m. For this season, to the end of September 2014, 7,654 tonnes of uks and ukp have already been exported to Morocco, according to HMRC.

Mohammed El Eulj from the Kenz Maroc flour mill, said: “uks wheat has no competitor: it is unique.”

During the visit, HGCA’s exports team held harvest seminars for Moroccan millers and members of the animal feed industry in Casablanca. The team presented the quality and quantity of UK wheat, discussing UK cereal production systems and the position of UK cereals in a global market. A further talk covered how feed compounders could use wheat in their rations.

Sarah Mann, HGCA Exports manager, said: “Delegates were very interested in our traceability, so Stephen Watkins from the BCE committee focussed on farm assurance during his presentation. It was important for the group of UK growers to learn about how vital farm assurance is for overseas buyers.”

Combined exports mission and study tour

For the first time this annual outward mission was joined by a group of HGCA levy payers from East Anglia, led by HGCA Regional Manager Tim Isaac, on a study tour with funding from the Rural Development Programme for England.  The aims were to see how HGCA spends levy in an export market, to understand what happens to wheat and barley when it leaves the UK, and to learn about supply chains and end uses for UK cereals.

Tim Isaac, HGCA Regional Manager, said: “The Moroccan milling industry really values the quality and traceability of our wheat and that will pay dividends as the export market develops further.

“Our group of East Anglian growers learnt so much from this trip in terms of Moroccan farming, their food requirements and their culture, but also from each other. The discussions on the coach between visits were almost as valuable as the meetings themselves – a rare opportunity to exchange ideas and share experiences; something we hope to replicate with the Monitor Farm programme.”

The combined groups visited the port at Casablanca, two flour mills and a feed mill – all of which have never been visited by HGCA before – in order to build new relationships with the industry and learn about their requirements. UK wheat quality was a major feature of these discussions, using data available from the Cereal Quality Survey and Chopin Alveograph Survey.

Brian Barker, one of the levy payers on the study tour and an HGCA monitor farmer from Stowmarket, said: “Morocco is a wonderfully vibrant and diverse country which on face value appears very different to the UK, but as our tour continued, it became increasingly clear that the challenges their vital agricultural industry faces are very similar to our own – volatility in prices and weather and increasing demands on their land. The whole population in Morocco seemed to understand and appreciate the value of producing a consistent supply of the basic foods required for a healthy diet.”

Growing uks

Around 26% of the GB wheat area for harvest 2014 was planted to uks. Indications from AHDB/HGCA’s Early Bird Survey are that the wheat area for harvest 2015 will be down by 5%, but it is as yet unknown the area planted to uks. This data will be available in the Planting and Variety Survey, released during summer 2015. Growers elected for the survey will be contacted over the coming weeks.

Mrs Mann said: “We need more UK growers to grow uks wheat. The biscuit industry is still evolving in Morocco, but there is a trend of increasing biscuit consumption. We want a consistent supply to meet this increasing demand, and to also satisfy our existing customers in Spain and Portugal, where uks is popular for biscuits and bread.”

HGCA’s new Recommended List will be launched on 1 December, so farmers will be able to identify uks varieties for the 2015/16 season. As the markets remain volatile, the chance to export gives UK growers another option to add value to their crop.