Farmer-owned consortium in Tesco deal

A farmer-owned brand of peas has signed a major deal with Tesco.

The contract for Yorkshire Peas will put the product initially into 165 stores across the North of England.

The brand is owned by Swaythorpe Growers, a consortium of 40 Yorkshire pea farmers, which in talks with other supermarkets and independent retailers.

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Director Matthew Hayward said: “It’s a huge coup for us to sign this deal with Tesco. We’d spotted the rise in demand for locally-produced food and thought that trend could easily extend to the freezer. So far, most brands that trumpet their local status are specialist and expensive. We wanted to take the local message to the everyday foods.”

He added: “We’ve always been proud of what we grow, but selling peas with our name on the packet has genuinely taken farming to a new level for us.”