Superstore boss makes £1m pledge to farmers

The company’s chief executive, Justin King, will unveil the cash at an event in London tonight organised by Green Monday, a group which aims to promote what it calls “corporate sustainability”.

In a speech he will say: “We need both competition and collaboration to ensure the future of British farming. There is still a big gap between what we know we can do, and what needs to be achieved.

“Today we have announced a new piece of collaboration to help deliver our commitment to double the amount of British food we sell.

“The new grants are designed to help farmers address the real challenges in the agricultural supply chain, thereby giving British consumers the supply of high quality British foods they want.”

Only farmers who are members of Sainsbury’s 2,500-strong Farmer Development Group can access the cash, with applications opening today and closing on November 21.

The group is split under 10 different headings with farmers representing all the major sectors of agriculture, including dairy, pork, wheat, fruit and vegetables.

Sainsbury’s said it would also increase the price it paid for milk from its farmers as part of its commitment to its Dairy Development Group and said it was already paying a premium to pig farmers facing feed price rises.

A spokesman for the NFU said the organisation would make no comment until it had seen the detail of Mr King’s speech and its officials had looked at the detail of the initiative.