We move on to the next item on our agenda, which is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs on the food and drink industry. I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Wales’s food and drink industry is a successful, growing, thriving industry, taking Wales forward. It is contributing to creating a prosperous economy and a secure society. My oral statement in June updated Members about Welsh Government’s action plan ‘Towards Sustainable Growth’, on which we’re making excellent progress. The industry’s sales value has already grown to £6.1 billion. Progress is firmly on track to deliver 30 per cent growth to £7 billion by 2020, as we are already over halfway to achieving the target.

This success is the outcome of effort and dedication by many people, and I congratulate the industry. However, I particularly want to acknowledge the excellent work undertaken by the Wales food and drink industry board, which is now well established and works closely with me. The board is pushing our shared vision for the industry under the energetic chairmanship of Andy Richardson, and I wish to put on record my thanks to him and all board members.

Since my June statement, the board and the Welsh Government have continued to pursue the action plan. We have promoted Welsh food and drink at home and abroad. We’ve remained focused on the industry’s skill and training needs and the need to make the industry appealing as a career choice. We continue to support innovation and investment. Progress in these areas is essential to achieve our goal to grow the industry and develop markets. We’re also ensuring our food supply is secure and that it produces products of the highest standard for the public.

Since I have been in post, I’ve visited many food and drink businesses across Wales. I’ve been impressed by the energy and commitment of people working in this industry. Earlier this month, I was delighted to host the Welsh winners of the 2016 Great Taste awards. We had 125 winning products, adding to Wales’s deserved reputation for quality and taste. I look forward to 2017 when Welsh entries will be judged in north Wales, and I’m confident we can do even better next year.

Our reputation goes beyond Wales. We have led businesses on trade visits to North America, Europe, the middle east and Asia. I saw first-hand the work to promote our industry internationally when I led a trade visit in October to SIAL, one of Europe’s largest industry trade shows. A strong delegation of Welsh businesses showcased our dairy, drinks and bakery sectors, alongside Hybu Cig Cymru promoting Welsh lamb and beef. Last week, my officials supported a trade visit to Spain, one of our biggest export markets. Today, my team and Welsh businesses are at Food Matters Live in London—an exhibition strongly focused on innovation.

Effort and a growing reputation bring results. Our export and trade events programmes continue to help businesses gain sales. Nimbus Foods and Dairy Partners (Cymru Wales) recently reported around £2 million extra business following Welsh Government support to help reach new markets abroad. Food and drink exports have increased nearly 13 per cent in the first six months of 2016—an increase of £15.2 million compared with the same period last year.

Earlier this month, I commenced the latest round of the food business investment scheme, funded by the rural communities—rural development programme: £2.8 million is available for capital investment, adding to nearly £13 million of Government and business investment pledged already. The new round targets micro and SME businesses, which do make up the majority of food manufacturers in Wales.

The board and the Welsh Government are working to encourage bank and other private investment in the industry. On 2 November the board hosted the Food Innovation and Investment for Growth conference in Cardiff, attracting investors from across the UK and food companies from all over Wales, where I launched a new business investment guide. The conference added to work to encourage clustering between businesses. The food cluster programme will deliver economic growth by enabling businesses to realise mutual benefits through knowledge transfer, cost savings and creating joint opportunities. Three hundred and eighty businesses are already engaged.

I continue to support healthy eating in our schools and welcome the recent introduction of the food and nutrition GCSE. Innovation is a main consideration in the appraisal of food industry grant applications, and applications for product reformulation to produce healthier products score well. Through the food poverty alliance we work with public, voluntary and private sector partners, including the supermarkets, to reduce food poverty in our communities. We also continue to raise interest in food and drink across the length and breadth of Wales through our direct support for food festivals. These events raise awareness amongst consumers, our visitors to Wales, and open opportunities for our businesses to develop and grow.

The Welsh Government’s role is to provide leadership and support. Never are these qualities needed as much as they are now, following the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Brexit poses significant challenges and risks. Our businesses export; they import raw materials, with a quarter of the workforce coming from outside the UK. Our industry is global, so the EU will always have enormous importance, and decisions taken soon will impact for decades. The Welsh Government is determined that Wales should not be harmed by Brexit. Our European advisory group is supporting the Welsh Government to understand the implications. The food industry has participated fully in cross-sector stakeholder events that I have held over recent months. These events have championed the quality of our brand and produce, and participants have emphasised the importance of quality and sustainability all the way through our supply chain, from the natural resources to the plate.

This consultation and engagement is informing our vision for our post-Brexit future and the forthcoming negotiations as the UK prepares to leave the EU. We must ensure our domestic markets are not undercut by unscrupulously-produced imports. We must fight for a level playing field for our exports, without new tariffs or trade barriers. We have to maintain our supply of labour and continue to attract investment. And we need to continue to sustain and add to our growing family of internationally recognised protected-food-name products.

So, whilst we recognise the challenges, we must seize the opportunities and continue to deliver, face the world, and raise our efforts to show that Wales is, of course, open for business. In the coming months we will assist businesses to attend major international events, including Gulfood, Dubai, in February and the International Food and Drink Exhibition, London, in March. For the first time, we will hold an international trade event and conference—Blas Cymru—for the food and drink industry, when we will invite the world to Wales. With strong partnership between the Welsh Government, the industry board, investors and the industry, I am confident we will continue to succeed. We will be focused and remain ambitious, planning and securing a prosperous future for the food and drink industry—a future that takes Wales forward. Thank you.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement today? Wales has a proud record of producing high-quality food and drink, and it’s crucial that the Welsh Government does all that it can to provide the right support to enable the sector to flourish locally, nationally and, indeed, internationally. Of course, this policy area is one that covers a number of Welsh Government departments—indeed, everything from health to education to the economy. So, it’s essential that any strategy in this area is co-ordinated effectively. So, I hope that the Cabinet Secretary will tell us what specific mechanisms she has put in place to ensure that any food strategy is appropriately managed and resourced across each Welsh Government department.

I very much agree with the Cabinet Secretary that, following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, it’s now more important than ever that the Welsh Government is strategic and engaged. I understand that officials have held workshops regarding the potential impact of future tariffs on trade with EU countries on the food and farming industry, and that is something that I welcome. Today's statement recognises the challenges and opportunities that the Brexit vote has now delivered for the food and farming industries, but perhaps the Cabinet Secretary could provide us with some more detail on the Welsh Government’s agenda in this area, both in the short and longer term.

Whilst negotiations take place nationally, the Welsh Government has a duty to ensure that our domestic markets remain strong and that local sourcing of food and drink for contracts is encouraged to help build stronger links with small and medium-sized companies. Therefore, perhaps the Cabinet Secretary will tell us what new action the Welsh Government has taken to strengthen the domestic market in Wales to support SMEs and local producers in tendering for public sector contracts and to generally encourage the Welsh public to buy local.

Now, I'm sure that all Members will agree that a great way to promote local produce is through food festivals and farmers’ markets and, indeed, mobile farmers’ markets, which I know the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board are currently looking at. Indeed, research conducted by the Welsh Government's food division showed that promotion and advertising of the market were the most commonly identified support needs, and so there's an opportunity for the Welsh Government to be innovative in selling these markets to consumers. In light of that research, could the Cabinet Secretary confirm what new approaches are being considered to better promote food events and farmers markets, and what discussions has the Welsh Government had with local authorities about ways in which they could help promote this activity at a local level?

Of course, a strong food strategy is integral to the Welsh Government public health objectives, and it's important that we send out the right messages in terms of healthy eating in order to address matters such as obesity in our population. I'm aware of some of the fantastic work that the third sector already does in this area, as well as Public Health Wales and the Food Standards Agency, and even local authorities. However, perhaps the Cabinet Secretary could tell us how she’s ensuring that any food and drink industry policy works jointly alongside the Welsh Government's health and education agenda.

I note from today's statement that a food and nutrition GCSE has been introduced, but there's still so much more that we can do to explore ways to use Welsh produce to educate everyone, from our very eldest in society to our children and young people. Therefore, it’s crucial that at the very heart of this strategy is a commitment to ensure that our future generations are educated about food and drink, nutrition, and where that food comes from, but that they also have access to a career in that industry as well. The Cabinet Secretary and I share the same ambition to encourage more young people to consider the food and drink industry as a viable career option, and I welcome her commitment to engaging with children and young people, but perhaps the Cabinet Secretary could update us on the work that she has done with her officials to make the farming and food sectors more attractive to our future generations.

On a final note, Deputy Presiding Officer, I'd be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary would commit also to publishing job creation statistics and employment opportunity figures with each annual update so that Members can scrutinise the Welsh Government's action in this area. Deputy Presiding Officer, can I thank the Minister once again for her statement this afternoon? I am pleased that the industry is on track to deliver 30 per cent growth to £7 billion by 2020.

I thank Paul Davies for his list of comments and questions. I think that is really important, that very ambitious target of growing the food and drink sector by 30 per cent by 2020, i.e. £7 billion. We're already at £6.1 billion, and we’re only nearly at the end of 2016. So, that's why I say I think we've got a really good news story to tell. I'm finding it really easy to sell Welsh food and drink, because people are so aware of the very strong reputation it has.

Turning to your specific point, I think you’re absolutely right; it is about making sure we have the right support. So, the last funding that I announced for a scheme was particularly for SMEs, because I think probably a significant number of food and drink businesses are SMEs. So, I think it's really important that we do get it right in relation to our support.

You mentioned the challenges and the risks and the opportunities that Brexit is giving us. You are right: my officials held a series of workshops over the summer. This followed on to two initial stakeholder events that we held. We've now had a third stakeholder event, and it became very apparent—you will have heard me say before that I didn't want people working in silos, so, across my portfolio, I thought it was very important to bring everybody together, but then the workshops were held specifically on different parts of the portfolio. So, food and drink, obviously, is one, and it’s very important. It’s been really good to get people’s ideas about what’s important to them going forward. You mentioned about new markets, and I know that a great deal of work for many years has been ongoing, and I’ve now picked this up—to get our lamb back into America, for instance. These things are very complex, so if we are looking for new markets, which of course we have to do, we know it can take many years, so that’s why it’s really important to ensure that we carry on with the markets that we’ve got. The domestic market, I think, that you mentioned is a really important market, so whilst we’re looking out there, don’t look too far—we have England just over the border and I think it’s really important that we work closely to see if we can find some new markets there also.

One other thing that has come through from the workshop is the importance of protected food names. We have eight now in Wales. We did have seven. We’ve just had the eighth one, in Carmarthen Ham. I think it’s very good to see that that’s just been done. It shows that, whilst there are a few along the pipeline waiting to come through, even though we voted to leave Europe, we’re still able to get those awarded. So, we still have a few in the pipeline, and I’ll be very interested to see those coming through also. The retention of those protected food names and protected geographical indications is very important to the sector, and that’s another we’ll have to have post—well, before—Brexit to see if we can keep those, or if we need to have our own scheme.

You mentioned about food festivals and farmers’ markets, and you’re absolutely right—they are very, very important. I think they’re important for visitors; I think it’s a very important part of food tourism. I’ve been very pleased to see—. We don’t have a huge amount of money to support food festivals, but it’s been very encouraging to see that the ones that were started with perhaps a bit of financial support from Welsh Government have carried on. Since 2013, the number of festivals that have applied for support has reduced from 30 plus to 19, and yet the other food festivals are continuing to operate, so I think that’s very encouraging.

You mentioned about cross-Government—this being a very important matter for cross-Government, and you’re absolutely right. Certainly, over the summer, when I visited many farms, many of the farmers raised with me the importance of ensuring that our children and young people learnt where their food came from. They were saying that, if you asked a child where an egg came from, they’d say the supermarket. It’s really important our children are educated, and that’s a discussion that I’m continuing to have. I’ve got a meeting coming up with both the Cabinet Secretary for Education and the Cabinet Secretary for health to take this issue forward.

Skills are a very important issue, and I attended Skills Cymru, which was held in Cardiff recently. It’s a hugely important sector: nearly 0.25 million people are employed in the food and the drink sector, so we have to ensure that the skills required are there for businesses when they take on their staff. I said in the opening statement that a quarter of the workforce comes from outside the UK, so, again, Brexit poses a lot of problems, and I know many parts of the sector are very concerned about where the staff will come from in the future.

I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement, and to say at the outset that I should declare an interest, because my son has just started work in this sector about fortnight ago. So, I look forward to tasting more of the sector as things develop.

I would like to ask the Cabinet Secretary for a little more detail than she’s revealed in her statement in terms of how the strategy and the action plan have to change as a result of the decision to leave the European Union. She’s set out that that’s the challenge, but there’s nothing in the statement that tells us how she will respond to that challenge, and how things are to change. As the statement said, 90 per cent of food and drink exports from Wales do go to the rest of the European Union, and we can’t fundamentally change that in two years. Therefore we would still want to see those exports continue after Brexit. So I suppose there are some questions that have to be raised. They’ve been mentioned here—questions on local procurement, questions on the promotion of food from Wales more specifically as Welsh produce. But I would like to know that there’s been more thought put into this than has been revealed to date.

Also, could the Cabinet Secretary explain a little more about the £7 billion? It’s an aim, and I’m pleased to hear that we’re on target to achieve, or even surpass, that, but what exactly does that include? I realise that it is described as ‘food and farming’, and therefore I would like to know what the range of that £7 billion captures, and I’d like to understand particularly are we to extend Welsh produce, particularly in the tourism sector in Wales, because it is a sector that isn’t performing as well as it should in providing Welsh produce in the visitor attractions and hotels, and so on.

In the statement in June, which was the last time the Cabinet Secretary made a statement on this issue, there was mention of clusters, and I would like to know what’s happened and how things are developing in terms of clustering food developments. Just to give an example, I yesterday met some farmers from Carmarthenshire who were interested to know how they can process milk in west Wales and in Carmarthenshire perhaps, because at the moment some 0.5 million litres of milk leaves Carmarthenshire without being processed and having that value added to it in Wales. I would be interested to know if we could take the opportunity we have to do more of this in Wales, and to do more so regionally too.

Could the Cabinet Secretary provide the Assembly with an update on the future of the red meat levy? There’s been some mention of this levy, and there’s an event by Meat Promotion Wales, I think, tomorrow in the Assembly for us to know where the discussions are happening on the levy. Of course, we want to see that levy being used to promote Welsh produce, and red meat specifically, as much as possible.

In that context, although she has already responded to the question on PGI, I’m still not sure whether it’s possible for us to continue with the PGI designation or a similar designation once we’ve left the European Union, and particularly if we were to leave the single market. I just want some clarity on that issue so that we understand what we’re discussing here.

One thing I would like to hear from the Minister, and she hasn’t made this point yet, is that she is going to bring the food awards for Wales back. Of course we do have Great Taste, which are British awards. The specifically Welsh food awards were scrapped some three years ago. I think we need to review this now that we need to promote our own produce, and now that we need to promote in the areas of tourism and local procurement, and now that we’re leaving the European Union. We will need a strong identity. Yes, we will need a UK identity; there is still a single market there, as it were. But we do need a strong identity for the best produce of Wales, and I would like the Minister to look again at the need for specifically Welsh awards, because they were popular, they were a good way of promoting Welsh produce, and they were a good way of changing the food culture and people’s attitude towards food too.

Ar y pwynt olaf hwnnw ar ddiwylliant bwyd, hoffwn gloi drwy ofyn i'r Gweinidog beth mae hi'n ei wneud i wella a chau'r cylch ar wastraff bwyd. Roedd hi’n sôn am hyn yn ei datganiad, ond mae gennym lawer iawn o wastraff bwyd yng Nghymru ac yn y Deyrnas Unedig. Rydym yn gwastraffu gwerth tua £16 biliwn o fwyd bob blwyddyn, y gellid ei ddefnyddio’n dda—gellid defnyddio llawer ohono’n dda. Mae’r Alban yn debygol o gael targedau ar gyfer lleihau gwastraff bwyd. Mae Ffrainc yn siarad am ddeddfwriaeth ar gyfer lleihau gwastraff bwyd. A yw'n fwriad ganddi gyflwyno naill ai deddfwriaeth neu dargedau am wastraff bwyd dros gyfnod y cynllun gweithredu hwn hyd at 2020? Rwy'n credu y byddai hynny'n anfon neges gref iawn.

Unwaith eto, os caf roi enghraifft o'r hyn sydd wedi bod yn digwydd yn fy rhanbarth i, mae Transition Bro Gwaun, sy'n brosiect cymunedol yn Abergwaun, yn ystod y tair blynedd a hanner diwethaf wedi bod yn defnyddio gwastraff dros ben o archfarchnadoedd lleol i gynhyrchu bwyd mewn caffi cymunedol. Maen nhw wedi arbed 25,000 tunnell rhag mynd i wastraff dros y tair blynedd a hanner hynny ac wedi denu £145,000 yn ychwanegol o arian cyfatebol i Abergwaun y ffordd honno. Yn anffodus, mae bygythiad i’w dyfodol oherwydd datblygiadau ffyrdd newydd yn Abergwaun, felly rwy’n sicr yn gobeithio y bydd yr awdurdod lleol yn cynorthwyo gyda’i barhad. Nid wyf yn disgwyl i Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet ymyrryd o reidrwydd yn uniongyrchol yn Abergwaun, ond rwy’n gobeithio ei bod yn derbyn bod honno’n enghraifft dda iawn o sut y gallwn leihau gwastraff bwyd ac mae'n enghraifft o sut y dylem fod yn gwneud cynnydd pellach, gydag arweiniad cryf, gobeithio, gan Lywodraeth Cymru.

Diolch, Simon Thomas. You asked a significant number of questions there, which I will attempt to answer, but I’ll start by wishing your son well in his chosen career. You’re right about post Brexit, and I tried to say in my answers to Paul Davies that whilst, of course, we’re looking for new markets, these do take a long time to get in place. As I say, I’ve seen it with trying to get our lamb back into America—it’s been seven years in the process. So, it is really important that whilst we’re looking for those new markets, we’re also seeing what we can do to continue exporting to Europe. Certainly, again, the message I’m getting is that we must have that tariff-free unfettered access to Europe going forward.

So, there’s a huge number of conversations going on. I’m going out to Brussels again to the fisheries council—those conversations will continue in the fringes of that. When I went to SIAL, again, we had discussions—Hybu Cig Cymru were there promoting our red meat and, again, I had discussions with a delegation from Taiwan and a delegation from Japan. You will have heard my colleague, Ken Skates, talk about the discussions he had out in Japan—again, food and drink will have featured there. So, it’s just about making sure that we are out there.

One of the reasons for having, for the very first time, an international event at the end of March in Newport next year is to encourage more people to come to Wales. So, just a couple of days prior—the timing has been very specific—to us holding the event at Celtic Manor, there’s a big event in London, so we’re hoping that people will stay and then come to Wales to do that. That’s another thing that we’re doing for the first time. You mentioned food awards, and I’m certainly looking at that to see whether we can, perhaps, tie in with that event, because I think it is very important. We’ve got a really good story to tell on food and drink. As I say, it’s not difficult to sell that Welsh produce, because the brand is so strong, so we need to make hay while the sun shines, if you like—it’s really important that we continue to do that.

You mentioned the £7 billion. The ambition was to have that increase in turnover of 30 per cent by 2020. We’re actually one of the best-performing countries within the European food retail market, and that includes agriculture, fishing and food manufacturing in that target.

You asked about the red meat levy. I am aware that there’s an event tomorrow with HCC. I’m actually meeting Andrea Leadsom on Thursday in London, and the red meat levy is on the agenda. Since I’ve been in post, I’ve had a lot of mixed information regarding the levy, and I know that some people—. We do need to get it sorted out, I think—it’s taken a long time to get here. So, it’s on the agenda, and perhaps I can update Members, Deputy Presiding Officer, following the meeting on Thursday.

I can’t give you the clarity that you’re seeking on PFNs and PGI, because we just don’t know at the moment, but food producers in Wales are very keen that we continue to have it—they think it’s very important. Certainly, in the discussions I’ve had with Alison from Halen Môn in Anglesey, she tells me how important it is for her business. So, we are very aware of that and we will be doing all we can—whether it’s to continue with that scheme or have our own I think will become clearer later on.

I think you’re absolutely right about food waste. A couple of weeks ago, I was at the British-Irish Council, and it had a focus on waste, in Guernsey. Tesco came to give us a presentation. Their ambition for their target is going to be 100 per cent—that none of their food goes to food waste. That could pose challenges if you’ve got a very rural Tesco—if there isn’t somebody who can come to collect that food at the end of the day—but I think that’s a great ambition to have. We need to be doing more with our supermarkets in relation to that. But, certainly, I think we need to consider having a target for food waste, because, as you say, there’s a significant amount of food being wasted, which I think most of us would think was absolutely unacceptable.

Thank you. We’re almost out of time, but we haven’t had any backbenchers to speak. So, if I could ask the next speakers to just ask their question of the Minister, and perhaps if the Minister can respond quite succinctly, I’ll see how many we can get through. Jenny Rathbone.

In the context of the sobering statistics on obesity and today’s announcement by Cancer Research UK that teenagers drink a bathtub full of sugary drinks every year—four to ten-year-olds half a bathtub—this extreme sugar consumption is something we have to combat. So, whilst the increase in exports of Welsh food and drink is welcome, I feel we need to spend a lot more time focusing on what we’re doing on a systemic basis to combat the obesity problem we have, particularly amongst young people. So my question is, really: what more can the Government do to promote the Food for Life charter mark? It has been adopted successfully by Flintshire council, which describes it as giving parents confidence in the school meal service and demonstrating their commitment to the school lunchtime experience, using locally produced food in the main so that people know where their food comes from and it’s of a certain standard. So, I salute Flintshire for its hard work, but I wondered what more can be done to ensure that all 22 local authorities are adopting the charter mark for catering for food.

Jenny Rathbone raises a very important issue, which you will appreciate doesn’t fall wholly within my portfolio. I mentioned in a previous answer that I’m due to have a meeting with my colleague Kirsty Williams, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, around issues to do with raising the information around food for our children and young people—where it comes from, et cetera. This will also fall within the Minister for public health’s responsibilities also, but I think, across Government, there is more we can do and I certainly join you in commending Flintshire County Council on their initiative.

I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for that statement, particularly on outlining her concerns relating to the Brexit vote. I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary could confirm that, if we leave the single market and the customs union, it will not be an end to paperwork, as hoped by many farmers who supported Brexit and who were told fibs, perhaps, by some of the people who supported Brexit, because actually there’ll be an increase in paperwork due to the need to apply for a relevant import licence, the need to complete costly health certificates, and the need to complete country of origin forms, on top of the forms that may or may not be needed if there will be any subsidies.

Now, each of us spends around £42 a week on food or drink. If we had no agreement in place and no transitional arrangements, we would see a 14 per cent tariff on Chilean wine, a 59 per cent tariff on beef, and—and this is really serious—a 38 per cent tariff on chocolate. I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary would agree that the increase in the price of food and drink has only just started, and that that is a direct result of that Brexit vote. What’s likely is that that increase in price is likely to continue as we feel the full brunt of the weaker pound in our supermarket trolleys. Currently, importers are still hedged against those currency fluctuations.

Finally, can I ask the Cabinet Secretary to agree that Wales produces some of the finest produce in the world? This includes Pembrokeshire early potatoes, the prize-winning sausages of Brecon’s Coity Bach and wagyu short ribs from Montgomery, which recently won the triple gold star at the UK Great Taste awards. I’m delighted that the Cabinet Secretary mentioned Carmarthen Ham, which, as she said, recently had that recognition from the EU protected food scheme.

Are you coming to a conclusion?

I’m just going to say one more thing.

Hurry up, please.

Would she join me in welcoming this week’s announcement that Hacer Developments intends to develop a large food park in Haverfordwest, which potentially could bring 1,000 jobs to the area?

I thank Eluned Morgan for those comments and questions. I think you’re right about more bureaucracy, and I think the penny is starting to drop now with many of the food producers and farmers that I’ve had discussions with. Again, Members will have heard me say that, over the summer, I asked people why they voted to come out of the European Union and bureaucracy was often given to me as an excuse for doing so, but unfortunately, yes, I think, perhaps, people were misled in a way that they’re only just realising.

We are very concerned about the increases that will come for food and drink, and clearly this is why the First Minister in all his negotiations with the UK Government is saying it’s really important that we have that access to the single market, and that it’s tariff free, because we know that would just push the price up even more.

You’re absolutely right, and I’ve said time and time again: Welsh produce has a very strong identity, a very strong reputation for being of a very high quality, and people are saying to me they don’t want to see a rush to the bottom in the standards of food, and it’s very important that we maintain the very high standards that we have. So, it’s very good to hear of the initiative that you described. Any jobs, of course, are always welcome, but of that magnitude would certainly be very welcome.

May I say that Eluned Morgan is doing a dangerous thing in starting to list companies in her region before the Member for Anglesey gets up to speak? Because I could speak at length about Melyn Môn, Y Cwt Mwg, Y Cwt Caws and Halen Môn—but I won’t do so. But the truth is, of course, that there are far too many relatively small food producers—some are larger—on Anglesey, and what I’m interested in doing, not only in my own constituency but the length and breadth of Wales, is to develop the industry as a whole, whilst we are also promoting those individual businesses. And of course, I welcome the fact that there is a pot of funding—£2.8 million—available for companies, where they can bid for capital funding for development. But, given that we’re to meet relatively soon to discuss some ideas that I have on the development of a food production park on Anglesey, does the Cabinet Secretary agree with me that, along with assisting existing businesses to grow, we need to develop infrastructure for food production on Anglesey and across Wales? There is no property that companies can rent that is of a high enough quality to produce food in my constituency, which is the mother of Wales because of its history in producing food and will continue to be so, if it’s given the right support at the right time by the Government and others.

You’re quite right; I wouldn’t even want to begin to list all the food businesses that we have in Wales. As I mentioned, the reason for having that £2.8 million pot of money mainly targeting SMEs was because there are so many SMEs that are part of the food and drink sector.

I think the issue you raise about infrastructure—. I didn’t answer Simon Thomas’s question now regarding processing plants, and the lack of processing facilities that we have in Wales in some areas is something that we need to look at. I’ve also been very pleased to visit—. I’ve only visited two out of the three—the one I haven’t visited, actually, is on Anglesey—of our food innovation centres, and I’m hoping to visit the Llangefni one certainly before Christmas or just after, because the work that those three centres do with those small SMEs to be able to then innovate and bring forward different types of food—. I visited the one in Ceredigion where there was a man who’d started making his own pasta but didn’t know where to test it out, and he’d been able to go to the innovation centre. He’d then been helped to find premises et cetera. So, I think it’s really important that we continue to fund those also.

And finally, Lee Waters.

Diolch. Thank you very much. Minister, I recently visited Castell Howell Foods in my constituency, in Cross Hands, a leading independent food wholesaler. They’ve grown enormously over the last 20 years and think they have great scope to grow further, but they are frustrated with the procurement processes for applying to sell their goods to the public sector. What can you do to make sure that this strategy succeeds to get better value for local economies, to make sure it’s easier to sell into the public sector and that we buy more Welsh products?

Yes, I’ve visited Castell Howell Foods and had that very conversation with the owners. I think you’re right; we need to ensure that we absolutely maximise the procurement sector here in Wales. We need to look at our hospitals and our schools. I remember when I was health Minister undertaking some work in relation to lamb, and we couldn’t procure Welsh lamb because we had to have the cheapest, and looking at how we got around that. So, we need to look at the procurement rules, and certainly, post Brexit, that’s another area we need to look at also. But it is a discussion that we’re having at the current time, and I mentioned that we need to look over the border into England to make sure we’re maximising our market also there, but really, we need to start in Wales first.

Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary. I have to say that was a model example of how to ask a question on a statement, so you’ve got the star prize today.