95% of shoppers think it’s important to support British farmers[1] and Ginsters agrees. The brand is underlining its ongoing commitment to backing the British farming industry with a range of new initiatives alongside Back British Farming Day today, 9th September. Life for farmers is already challenging, and ongoing support is even more crucial with this year’s extreme weather bringing more challenges.
Since announcing the long-term partnership with The Farming Community Network (FCN) in April 2026, Ginsters support has enabled the following initiatives for the farming community alongside the Brand’s rich history of British sourcing:
· More than 20 community events where farmers can come together and access support
· Over 500 supportive conversations have been facilitated with farmers when they need it.
· Over 150 farmers have been reached every month via the FCN helpline and local support.
· 25 new resilience resources on the FarmWell platform have been made possible.
· Ginsters colleagues have also contributed more than 200 hours of volunteering time working with FCN at events including FarmFest, Royal Bath & West and the Royal Cheshire Show.
This ongoing support for The Farming Community Network takes centre stage in the new Co-Op co-creation activation, launching in 1,000 Co-op stores nationwide today, 9th September. With the key message ‘Supporting British Farmers to Farm Well’, the activity is weighted towards rural areas, and will include fixture POS, digital till screens, in store radio, front of store digital screens, pop ups and tear off talkers, driving crucial awareness of a charity that supports farmers, in the heart of the communities that they live in.
The FarmWell website provides crucial resources to support both personal and business resilience, including information on available grants, animal welfare, finances mental health, physical health and more. The campaign will include a call to action inviting shoppers to share FCN’s details with people in the farming community, encouraging them to reach out and take advantage of the support on offer via their services. At the heart of the Co-op partnership, a Herefordshire store takeover will see aisle stickers featuring tractor tread marks and a giant tractor cut out to grab shopper attention.
Ginsters support for British Farming extends into its product range too and its new Pasty launch is no exception. The new limited edition Ginsters Beef & Ale Pasty (180g) RRSP £2.25, is made with ingredients made possible by the efforts of British farmers. With provenance ranking highly amongst shoppers and 80% saying they would be more likely to choose products made with British meat (which is continuing to grow +3.5% YoY)[2] ., Ginsters use locally grown vegetables from Hay Farm in Cornwall, just 17.5 miles from the Bakery, where Ginsters sources over 16 tonnes of potatoes and 4 tonnes of onions every day to produce their best selling products including the Ginsters Original Cornish Pasty and the Ginsters Peppered Steak Slice. The new Limited Edition Ginsters Beef & Ale Pasty is no exception when it comes to local sourcing and is set to re-engage core Ginsters shoppers with a proper British classic and bring excitement and new news into the back of store Savoury Pastry range. Ginsters expert chefs have combined 100% British beef, locally sourced potatoes, onions and carrots with Cornish Ale in a rich beef gravy encased in golden puff pastry to create a delicious pasty.
The new Ginsters Beef & Ale Pasty is now available at Co-op and will be available across the market later this month.
Sarah Babb, Marketing Director at Ginsters, commented: “We are proud to continue to raise awareness of The Farming Community Network and the work they do to support British Farming. Launching these new initiatives alongside Back British Farming Day this September underline just how important it is to us to keep raising awareness. We know how hard farmers work, and the even tougher challenges they face after a long, hot summer, and we are committed to supporting the British farming industry through our long-term partnership with FCN and our creative awareness raising work like our Co-op partnership. Our new Beef & Ale pasty is no exception, using British Beef and locally sourced veg that our British farmers work so hard to produce. We hope that our consumers continue to support us to recognise their effort.”
Alex Phillimore, Head of Operations and Communications at FCN, commented: “FCN is delighted to be working with Ginsters to highlight the incredible work of our farming community and the food they produce. This partnership is helping us to reach more people and to raise awareness of our FarmWell resources – designed to support farmers’ health, wellbeing and business resilience.”
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