We are delighted to announce the creation of Navara Oat Milling and the development of Europe’s largest and most efficient oat processing plant, alongside our store at Kettering.
 
We believe this is an exciting development for Camgrain members as it will create an additional route to market (on our doorstep) for members growing oats, maximise pool returns for farmer members, utilise our land & storage assets and provide a long-term dividend return that will benefit the society and its members.

Camgrain to partner with Frontier Agriculture & Anglia Maltings Holdings to build multi-million-pound state of the art oat processing plant.

Work to construct a brand new, cutting-edge oat processing plant in Northamptonshire has begun. The plant will be the largest, most modern oat-processing facility in Europe. On completion in 2023, it will be poised to meet and accelerate the already growing demand for oat ingredients in the food and drink industry.
 
The development is the initiative of ‘Navara Oat Milling’, an exciting new joint venture between three organisations. All three bring to the party different - and complementary - fields of expertise, as well as longstanding relationships in their respective supply chains and markets.
 
Navara is jointly owned by Frontier Agriculture, a crop production and grain marketing company; Camgrain, a farmer-owned cooperative; and Anglia Maltings Holdings (AMH), a food and drink ingredient manufacturer.
 
The new plant will be built alongside Camgrain’s existing Advanced Processing Centre in a key arable region between Corby and Kettering, ensures the minimising of food miles. Excellent transport links provide good access not only to oat growers but also to key food and drink manufacturers who use cereal-based ingredients. Frontier Agriculture will supply all oats processed at the plant via growers in the surrounding region, Camgrain farmer members and its network of farm traders.
 
Simon Willis, CEO of Camgrain added, “The new joint venture, Navara Oat Milling, will see the new plant built alongside our existing Camgrain Advanced Processing Centre in Northants. This is great news for our farmer members as it expands opportunities for them with an increasingly sought-after cereal grain and will involve them in projects such as the development of new varieties. It’s good to be bringing advanced technology to the UK food supply chain, adding value not just to farmers, but also to the local community. We are grateful to the North Northants Council for their support for this flagship project; which will bring forward new employment opportunities and reduce food miles.”
 
Mark Aitchison, Managing Director of Frontier and Chairman of the new joint venture said, “There’s increasing demand for oat ingredients in healthy food products and non-dairy drinks. The investment by the three strategic partners will help meet that demand. Our collective vision is to build and grow a dedicated oat supply chain, bringing farmer and food manufacturer closer together and delivering improvements that benefit each sector and the environment. “We will work together on realising the huge potential of oats, embracing all that they can deliver in provenance, traceability and sustainability. Navara will create supply chain efficiency and the food and drink industries will benefit from the investments we’ll make not just in processing but also in growing oats. Collaboration with farmers supplying the new mill will see value added in areas such as agronomy advice, seed variety choice and development, quality and sustainability.”
 
George Thompson, Group Finance Director of AMH said, “This ground-breaking partnership can bring focus on this highly valued cereal crop, and we’re delighted to be part of it. We already work with oats in EDME, the natural food ingredients arm of our business, and have long desired to do more with this exceptional cereal. Navara Oat Milling provides the perfect opportunity. “By combining our experience, expertise and ambition with that of Camgrain and Frontier, we can explore the true potential of oats in terms of innovation for existing oat ingredients processors and exploring new market opportunities. “The joint venture is launching at a time when the importance of nutritious, plant-based ingredients has become more widely recognised. Provenance and sustainability are part of that agenda, and domestically grown and processed oats are part of the answer. With its brand-new, purpose-built facility, Navara Oat Milling will be well positioned to support food and drinks manufacturers by providing consumers with healthy and nutritious choices.”
 
The site which is discreetly located and hidden by existing topography and vegetation will be further enhanced by the additional planting of 6,500 new trees and shrubs. Full planning permission has been approved and significant preparatory work has already taken place. UK construction and project manager experts T H White will be the main construction contractor for the project.
 
Construction of the plant will provide an additional 120 jobs; 60 during construction and 60 to operate the plant once complete.

Notes for Editors

1. For further information about this announcement please contact Nicki Arnold, Head of Membership Manager on Nicki Arnold Tel:Mobile:Email: nickiarnold@camgrain.co.uk

2. About Camgrain: Camgrain is a farmer owned co-operative established in 1983 which operates the UK’s largest network of farmer owned grain stores. With over 35 years of experience and investment in world class grain stores Camgrain are seen as experts in the long-term storage of arable crops and have won many prestigious awards including Nestle UK supplier of the Year. Camgrain has many existing supply chain relationships and are respected for adding value to premium crops in many food sectors including those making bread, brewing beer and creating breakfast cereals. Camgrain fulfils the collection, storage and marketing requirements of arable crop farmers and has circa 550 farmer members who store 500,000 tonnes of grain with Camgrain Camgrain’s mission is ‘To maximise returns to our farmer members, through outstanding service in the storage, logistics and marketing of their crops’



3. About Frontier Agriculture: Frontier Agriculture is the UK's leading crop production and grain marketing business, recognised for its close customer relationships with farmers and grain consumers and its successful management of the arable supply chain. Frontier was formed in 2005 as a joint venture between Associated British Foods and Cargill plc and now turns over around £1.5 billion per annum. Frontier has 46 sites across the UK and employs 1,100 colleagues. Frontier’s main offices are in Perth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Cranswick, Witham St Hughs, Diss, Sandy, Hermitage and Ross-on-Wye. Operating across all aspects of arable crop production and grain marketing, Frontier supplies seed, crop protection products and fertiliser to farmers, as well as providing specialist agronomy advice through our team of 130 agronomists. Frontier's grain marketing business has well-established contracts with the UK's key grain consumers, giving our farmer customers unrivalled access to end markets. Frontier has a number of divisions providing additional specialist advice to growers. These include SOYL precision crop production and Kings who are experts on game cover, conservation crops, green cover and forage crops. Frontier’s digital platform, MyFarm, allows growers to manage all aspects of their farming business in one place, from account information to grain sampling results and precision farm data. Frontier's mission is to be the first-choice partner for crop production and crop marketing for UK farmers, and the first-choice employer in UK agriculture.

4. About Anglia Maltings (Holdings) Ltd: Anglia Malting (Holdings) Ltd (AMH) is a privately owned business and dates back to 1870. The group comprises of two complementary divisions, being maltings and food ingredients, which collectively sell c.500,000t of product per annum. Crisp Malt is the global malting business, that supplies high quality malted ingredients to the global brewing, distilling and food markets. Crisp Malt operates seven malting facilities across Europe, of which five are in the UK, one in Poland and one in Germany. AMH’s food ingredients division comprises of Edme and Micronized Food Products. Edme is an innovative processor of malted and non-malted grains and cereals, including oats, into food producers in the UK and globally. AMH prides itself on the close relationships it has with its partner farmers and its customers, being the end-user processors of both its malted and non-malted products. AMH’s mission is to be the first choice for high quality malted ingredients for both large and craft brewers and distillers globally and, via its ingredients division, to be the supplier of choice in providing innovative products into the UK and global food markets