The Bedrock of Success for Farmison & Co
When John Pallagi and Lee Simmonds created Farmison & Co, their vision was to provide home cooks with access to the best of British produce, that would ordinarily be destined for the top tables of international restaurants.
Their joint ambition was achieved by building a new supply chain and working directly with traditional farmers.
As Lee Simmonds explained, when we recently spoke to him at the company’s headquarters in Ripon, the whole team at Farmison & Co is passionate about supporting its network of independent local farms and improving the sustainability of native breeds.
“At Farmison & Co, we’re committed to promoting better meat and explaining how proper dry-aging, grass-fed and free-range meat can only be delivered with the care and attention of farmers who are passionate about what they do.
“And that’s the reason, when we set up the company in 2011, we set out to challenge the food manufacturing sector and really put the farmers, and the UK’s heritage breeds, on a pedestal.
“The UK has some of the finest beef, pork, and lamb breeds in the world, bred to perfection in the 18th and 19th centuries, to yield more marbling and fuller flavour.
“Eating rare breeds may not seem like the best way to preserve our rare breed bloodlines. But the reality is that you are making it viable to farm livestock in that way.
“Every native breed has its own nuances and characteristics, driven by the landscape that it grazes on, how it’s looked after, and the nature of each animal.
“We’re nothing without the farms or without the breeds. So, it’s vitally important that they’re treated with the utmost respect because we’re only as good as they are.”
Supporting sustainable farming
“We do the butchery part, we do the marketing, we build the brand, and we build the customer base. However, we are only as good as the farmer, their ethical farming practices, and the quality of the produce that they rear.
“Farmers are integral to achieving the right level of quality and consistency. That’s why we work so hard to select and get to know our farmers. It becomes very evident that these farmers really care for the welfare of their animals. They treat them with absolute respect, and that really matters to us.
“And whilst many consumers have chosen to cut down on their meat consumption, there’s also been a real shift towards people wanting to eat, and pay more for, better meat.”
“It’s about authenticity.
It’s all about the authenticity of the products that are being produced by Farmison & Co, underpinned by the care and attention that’s provided by our farmers.
“That’s why digital traceability is crucial for consumer confidence. People want to know exactly where the meat has come from. They want to know how it was farmed and where it was farmed.”
“It’s all about appreciating where your meat has come from, how it’s been reared, and knowing that it’s been ethically produced.
Lee Simmonds, co-founder, Farmison & Co.
Why industry specific knowledge is key to identifying the best ERP partner
“When it comes to digital traceability, our ERP system provides the glue to keep everything cohesive. It delivers an understanding of the flight path for when the farmer is taking a particular animal to slaughter and when it will be coming into the business.
The purchase order generated within our ERP each time really kick-starts the whole traceability. It also tells us what, when and where it’s coming from, and what’s the expected weight.
“Our ERP system delivers complete supply chain traceability.
“For instance, when we’re supplying a 32-day aged sirloin steak, from a Dexter cow, we have 100% traceability right back to the farm.”
“Finding the right ERP partnership for Farmison & Co was vitally important. What really struck us was that SI was not fazed by our operational complexity. From the number of breeds we manage, all of our product SKUs, through to the maturation – all these things could be accommodated within the system.
“SI understands the process of producing meat and already works with many big names within the meat sector.
“SI’s whole business has been geared towards streamlining those processes. They understand the complexity of taking a whole carcase and breaking it down into many different permutations through to producing end products that are then shipped to our customers.”
“SI understands the complexity and they’d already done much of the hard work that otherwise we would have to do if we’d chosen a non-sector specific ERP provider.
“Whatever we throw at the SI system – all the permutations of cuts and breeds – it can handle it.
“We have struck up a great working relationship with SI. Their work has proved to be a huge and vital step change in our ability to truly scale our business.”
Exemplary audit management
Every business in the food industry knows just how stressful audits can be.
For any food manufacturer, knowing that you have a very competent team in place and that you’re doing all right things makes the difference.
As Lee explained, “What was really satisfying, when we were audited straight after implementing the ERP system, was the feedback from the auditors.
“They said that our facility is state-of-the-art, that the traceability was exemplary, and that the technology provided the backbone to it.
“The feedback reassured us that the decision we had made about choosing SI as our ERP partner was absolutely the correct decision.”
“It’s really satisfying to hear that your house is “fully in order” and that you’re operating fully within the best food guidelines that are available.
“As soon as raw material arrives at Farmison & Co, a unique trace ID is applied to every product, whether it’s a carcase, primal, ingredient or packaging.
“And with the trace IDs in place, from that point onwards, we can track that product. That is only possible with the SI system in place.”
Our ERP is the digital heartbeat for our business
Waste management is key within any food business. That’s why it’s essential to understand why waste has been created, how best to use it and how to make every effort to minimise it.
“Within Farmison & Co, as carcases are dissected and broken down, we’re also controlling and minimising the waste. And with full digital traceability within the ERP, it’s also building further efficiencies, and helping to improve cost modelling within the business.
“Moving forward, we’ll be building mass balances into our traces, as we know that’s a strength of the SI system.
“Everything’s in real-time, which is fantastic; we’ve never had that level of information as a business before. This means we can see exactly where we are throughout our operations. We’d never as a business been in that position without SI.
“And when the ERP system is the beating heart of your business, it enables you to take pulse-reading at any time about how well your business is performing. It’s vital to the success of our business to be able to take these pulse-readings of where we’re at and how we’re functioning.
“We came into the industry to be modern, to show that the sector can be different and to really shake things up.
“But whilst we want to be modern, we must also preserve and support what is traditional about our farming methods, about our breeds, about the craft of butchery.
“The modern part is delivered through the ERP system, the shop front (which is mostly online), and our logistics partners. So, in many respects, it’s like the perfect kind of marriage.”
We’re confident in a bright future for Farmison & Co
Butchers by trade, and artisans at their craft, Farmison & Co’s range of both traditional and modern butchery cuts is constantly growing, to help encourage home cooks to eat nose-to-tail and discover new dishes.
“We want to give the nation more choice and we want to serve more customers. We’re very fortunate that we have such a highly skilled and dedicated team. And the whole team is committed to providing our customers with the very best quality.
“In an age of highly processed and mass-produced food, there are very few food products that we consume that have been crafted with true human intervention; where it has been cut with a knife and created with the skill of a trained professional.
“We’ll continue to grow, I’m confident about that. And as the more questions get asked of the sector and meat in general, I believe more people will turn towards better quality products, underpinned by a better way of producing meat.
“I am very confident that Farmison & Co is the natural place for people to come. After all, when you have quality and consistency, you then build greater trust in both your brand and your business.
“The future for Farmison & Co looks really positive and I also know that our partnership with SI is right, and that the ERP will can cater for what I envisage we’re going to be doing over the next five years.”
