The Guernsey. Breed. Brand. Briny… in a class of its own

Mess. Ray Watts dauve ieune de ses buones vacques guernesiaises [Mr Ray Watts with one of his lovely Guernsey cows]

There is no doubt in my mind that we own something very valuable in the name Guernsey. I want to examine a few examples. Take the Guernsey breed - cattle I mean, I know there are Golden Guernsey Goats too. What more could or perhaps should we be doing to maximise the rich and loyal reputation that the Guernsey cow holds?

My family have a long history in farming, yet my father (who turned to tomato and flower cultivation to make a living in the second half of his life) told me in my mid teens “I don’t mind what you do, but if you want my advice, don’t become a farmer or a grower!” So I didn’t. But his rather tongue-in-cheek advice came as a result of experiencing the inability to compete with the efficiencies of factory-style mass production in either agriculture or horticulture when compared to Big Brother EU and its subsidised member states. The service industries - predominantly financial services - became (and remain) our fiscal and economic saviour, but in a Covid and Brexit plagued brave new world are there new opportunities opening up for old industries re-imagined for a perhaps niche, higher value, tastier, fresher, greener, organic, purer market? I believe so. And I believe Guernsey is well placed to make the most of them if we have the courage to invest wisely.

Don’t misunderstand me, I am not envisioning a mass return to an agrarian culture, but rather a change in emphasis from a highly protectionist policy focused almost entirely on maintaining the Guernsey herd and milk production locally, subsidising farmland as countryside, and doing very little to encourage the next generation, towards a more creative, innovative outlook, majoring on the unique selling points of the Guernsey breed, looking to export markets for high end branded products, making the most of our existing agricultural land and countryside without losing our historic small-scale farming techniques, helping them become a positive reason to ‘Buy Guernsey’ and stimulating the visitor economy to come see how we do it. Having resolved that the old Dairy is no longer fit for purpose before we go and build an identical one which is just a tad brighter and shinier than the former, we should see first whether our commercial and operating models should be adapted for such future transformation. To do so will require a new STSB as well as a P&R who have the courage to invest in such things.

A visit to Meadow Court Farm. With Ray Watts (Centre) and Fenella Maddison

We have seen small examples of these types of innovation recently in the small-scale production of high quality natural yoghurts, greek yoghurt, ice-creams, speciality cheeses etc. To investigate further the potential we possess I recently visited two people who have also imagined that Guernsey could “do dairy differently'“ – Ray Watts of Meadow Court Farm and Fenella Maddison of Torteval Cheese. Sadly space and time do not allow for me to recount the wide-ranging and very encouraging discussions we had on how government, the dairy industry, local food producers, land owners and farmers in general - micro, small and medium scale - could all play a significant part in turning the Guernsey ‘brand’ in agriculture into an economic turn-around, something worthy of investment, career and life-style choice, enhancing other Guernsey ‘offers’. We identified some of the obstacles, pitfalls of the past we need to avoid. Conflicting regulation and over-regulation being paramount. For example Ray and his family at one time sought to establish a farm-based visitor centre where groups of tourists to see a traditional working farm, the Guernsey cattle being milked, taste products and enjoy cream teas in an on-site café but were prevented ironically by planning regulations limiting the conversion of old farm buildings, which still sadly sit unused! Speciality cheese producers like Fenella are limited by access to dairy products because of the counterproductive quota systems in force to ensure milk is not over-produced. Yet often milk still goes to waste. We looked at the ways in which land use, crop rotation, local organic fertilisers, healthy soil and biodiversity all are symbiotic and could be exemplary of the historic Guernsey brand. A small amount of butter is sold to Waitrose for the UK market, but this is only a token start. We talked of how through innovation a new generation could aspire to work the land again in more productive ways, Guernsey could be more self-sufficient even if never fully so, and healthier lifestyles which we saw a glimpse of during lockdown could possibly be embraced again more economically. I left hopeful.

Fenella Maddison of award winning Torteval Cheese

But it’s not just about the Guernsey breed, it’s our briny too - our fisheries industry is artisanal, very different to the large scale high volume factory industries of the big boys around us - small boats, traditional catching techniques, historic rich waters yielding high quality products, world class. We should be making more of this. And, ironically perhaps, Brexit may just enable us to do so, deal or no deal. Many of us don’t want us to lose our fishermen - the threat is that Brexit will cause them to lose tariff free access to the French markets where 80% of their catch goes. But who knows what we might be able to transform our 12 nm territorial seas into over the next few decades - a marine park? A blue energy showcase? A world centre for marine aquacultural sustainability?

The Norman brand which includes Camembert, Le Président butter, d’Isigny, cider, Calvados, but also Mont Saint Michel, the DDay Landing beaches, William the Conqueror etc. all demonstrate the benefits of making the most of ones USPs. Siginficantly when Président Hervé Morin launched ‘La Marque Normande’ a couple of years ago he invited us Anglo-Normans to join in! We still could, but that’s for another day.

Rather than either trying to copy the big players around us – who, to be honest are often producing the culturally bland, samey, homogenised products which come with mass production techniques – or simply trying sometimes half-heartedly to maintain the status quo (often at great expense too), why shouldn’t we seek to offer something a little different, which stands out from the crowd? Perhaps we’re sitting and walking right on top of it! We’ve been achieving unique status with financial services such as protected cell companies, blockchain dealing, green finance, and to a certain degree in the goods market already with clematis, cider, gin, and more recently butter and now speciality cheeses. These issues touch at the heart of our current ecological, social and economic challenges.

In the coming years I would like to see fresh ideas and a new generation take on these challenges, so I shall be seeking to develop and promote policies to further these proposals.

Fort Grey from www.tortevalcheese.co.uk

There's Much More To Guernsey

Viewing the panoply of colour at Guernsey Clematis Nursery with founder and owner Raymond Evison (Right) and Paul Ingrouille (Horticultural Manager)

There's much more to Guernsey than financial services. We ought to value our financial service industry which not only opens up Guernsey to global business, but provides resources for other services and businesses to exist here and to provide jobs. However we should endeavour not to be over-reliant on any one industry. This we ought to have learnt from the past when Guernsey was heavily dependant on horticulture for the bulk of the twentieth century.

When the UK joined the EU in the 1970s it became increasingly difficult for Guernsey to compete with subsidised fruit and flowers grown and marketed in bulk by the big EU member states benefiting from the Common Agricultural Policy and other schemes. Tomato growing died a death within a decade. Some flower growing remained but it has had to innovate and diversify to be sustainable. In the last decade the UK government's decision to remove VAT Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) has hit hard on flower growers in Guernsey. Small local growers were still managing to be competitive by sending small flower packages by Post which came under the LVCR de minimis level of £18 and was therefore not subject to VAT on importation into the UK. After this came the recession and thus a double whammy for flower growers trying to eke out a living.

The variety of colours, flower sizes, shapes and plants is staggering. 

It is therefore very heartening to see horticulture bouncing back. Especially in the form of such clever innovation and niche marketing which looks resilient enough to withstand the storms of doing business both near and far. A good example of this is Guernsey Clematis Nurseries Ltd. and its associated Raymond Evison Clematis. Under the entrepreneural skill of its founder Raymond Evison MBE VMH who began the Guernsey operation in 1985 the firm has developed a business model which involves dedicated breeding and global marketing on an incredibly large scale. Plants are grown from cuttings and prepared either for UK or European sales, or carefully pruned as young plants and exported as far afield as North America and Japan. 3 million plants are produced annually here. A quarter of the world market in clematis plants originates in Guernsey!  

Raymond's successful business model comes from the idea he had that as people in the West increasingly moved towards living in cities and smaller dweliings without gardens, they would want some kind of easy-to-maintain garden experience in what little space they might have - a patch of patio, a balcony, or even a window box. They needed things to grow that were fairly unfussy, colourful and hardy. Clematis plants fit the bill perfectly. They are so versatile too, plus with his innovative species cultivation programme the options continue to expand.

As the son of a grower I was fascinated by the way in which this "vinery" (as we call sentimentally call glasshouses over here in reference to their original use for growing grapes) operates. Much science, design, and technological skill goes into the the production process, The care taken over breeding plants so that colour, size, shape, number of blooms, etc. are all taken into consideration, coupled with the fact that it takes around 10 years to develop a marketable new variety from initial concept, means that serious investment and risk are involved in this industry. So its not surprising therefore that each year Raymond comes back from the Chelsea Flower Show - the world showcase for the horticultural flower industry - glistening with medals and awards. He is of course also Vice=President of the Royal Horticultural Society and was awarded the prestigious Victoria Medal of Honour for his services to horticulture. 

Along with several others, including my cousin Ivan Le Tissier, and as president of the Guernsey Botanical Trust Raymond has pioneered the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden at Saumarez Park in the Castel parish. This is a beautiful painstaking project which is definitely worth a visit. 

So, there's much more going on in Guernsey, and Guernsey Clematis is a brilliant example of this. They are expanding too, building another expanse of glass to cope with the increase in demand as they partner with other distributers and garden centres in Denmark, the Netherlands and further afield. 

Our daughter Grace checking out the flowers!