When cereals breeder KWS first launched its Cordiale variety into the UK market, it did not fully realise the potential it had as a milling wheat. Excellent supply chain co-operation and communication led to the company being able to develop a better understanding, both of it potential uses by millers and its benefits to farmers. Miller ADM helped KWS to promote the variety in the UK and, according to KWS Commercial Director Andrew Newby, it has learnt lessons for the future about the benefits of supply chain cooperation.
Because of this, the story of Cordiale has been chosen by HGCA’s Supply Chain Partnership as a case study, illustrating Communication and Collaboration which is one of its five key themes, the others are: Innovation, Transport and Logistics, Duplicate Materials Testing, and Cost and Price.
Cordiale was bred at KWS’s facility at Thriplow, Hertfordshire from a cross made some time in the early nineties, and it entered official trials in 2001. Pre-testing had shown that Cordiale was a potential milling wheat, and the initial trials by nabim categorised it in its Group Two. At the same time continuing trials by KWS were demonstrating some clear agronomic benefits for the variety.
As well as being early to harvest, the variety was particularly good at maintaining its Hagberg and specific weight, even in quite difficult harvests. It was also very good at assimilating nitrogen into protein. Andrew Newby says: “Also at this time the information we got back from BCE (British Cereal Exports), in assessing the variety, showed that it was closer to Group One varieties such Malacca, and we were quite encouraged by this.
“We were associated with Serasem, part of the Invivo Group, and they had been trialling Cordiale in France. Even though it was early to harvest, Cordiale was not appropriate for French conditions. Nonetheless, their trials had shown that it was very close to some of their French wheats, and they were very happy with the grain quality. This was the time when many of the part-baked baguettes and similar products were coming out in the UK, and we were quite excited about the potential for the variety.”
Despite these early encouraging signs, the milling industry in the UK did not see Cordiale as anything more than a Group Two wheat.
Another problem for Cordiale when it went on to the Recommended List in 2004, was the fact that Einstein – also a Group Two variety – had joined the list the year before. Prior to that, there had been a gap in Group Two varieties. Einstein had good yield and disease resistance. With a yield that was one per cent behind Einstein, there was little incentive for farmers, who had only just started to grow this variety, to move to Cordiale.
However, Cordiale did begin to be grown, although it had a relatively small market share. As grain began to find its way into the mills, KWS were approached by ADM, the country’s largest independent flour miller, which had seen the results of the first commercial runs of the variety. At this time KWS had only just begun to open up lines of communication with the miller, and was encouraged that ADM felt able to approach them.
The miller was put in touch with grain merchants who could source supplies of Cordiale. Over a period of two years, ADM found that Cordiale was very consistent, but was also extremely flexible and could be used in a number of grists. The combination of wheat quality, being early to harvest, and this flexibility made it extremely attractive.
KWS began to get feedback from local farmers who had been growing Cordiale and started to see the benefits of the variety. The fact that it was harvested before other varieties – and potentially before any rain – meant that Cordiale could command a premium. It also allowed farmers to prepare their Oilseed Rape seedbed much earlier than other varieties of wheat.
“Farmers were starting to learn about the variety, and starting to tell us about it,” says Andrew Newby. “At our open days people could see that it was earlier than other varieties, and the feedback we got from farmers brought the benefits of the variety to life in a way that a row of numbers on the Recommended List cannot.”
ADM allowed KWS to use its logo to promote the variety through advertising, and at events such as Cereals. It was also buying Cordiale through its direct grain buying operation. Mark Ringrose, ADM Milling’s Trading Manager comments: “As a major processor we have been giving a clear message regarding our requirement for Cordiale in conjunction with the breeder and merchants, and view this as a clear example of growing for the market.”
According to Andrew Newby, the co-operation right across the supply chain, which happened mostly spontaneously in this case, provides a template for future activity. He says: “What we are trying to do now is to encourage that kind of communication for future varieties, but to attempt to condense it over a shorter period of time. We want the millers to be proactive with us at the very early stages of a variety, and the farmer to report back to us. We don’t know everything about a variety when it goes out onto farm. If farmers and millers will share their experiences – good or bad – and there is a trust between us, then we can promote varieties much more quickly, and speed up the time that it takes to bring new varieties to market.”
Jenny Batchelor, Arable Business Groups Manager at HGCA says: “The development and marketing of Cordiale is an excellent example of exactly what HGCA’s Supply Chain Partnership is trying to promote. If information flows back and forward along the supply chain, and the parties work together then everyone benefits, and makes more money as a result.”
The work of HGCA’s Supply Chain Partnership, is based on the findings of the Cereals Industry Forum (CIF), a three-year project funded by the UK government, and organised by HGCA and the Food Chain Centre. CIF used a variety of techniques to identify areas that could be improved in the UK cereals industry. These included individual company activities such as Probes which allowed companies to compare their business practices with a global database, including some of the best run companies in the world, and Value Chain Analyses (VCAs), which looked at how value is added right across supply chains.
Five consistent themes emerged from CIF:
The need for better communication and collaboration is the theme that links all of the other themes together. As illustrated by the story of Cordiale, where there is good communication and trust, problems can be solved, and supply chain efficiency improved.
Interviews with Andrew Newby are available on HGCA’s website as audio and video podcasts, along with a variety of other case studies. To access them visit www.hgca.com/supplychain.
