Oat drink supply chain to meet rigorous data demands from brands with new Robin Appel Ltd and Soil Association Exchange partnership

Grain trader Robin Appel Ltd has partnered with farm sustainability platform Soil Association Exchange to measure and improve the environmental performance of 15 of its oat growers. This is a direct response to processors and oat drink brands demanding rigorous, verifiable, farm-level data on the British oat supply following the impacts of extreme weather.

The processors and fast-growing oat drink brands Robin Appel Ltd supplies increasingly want robust, farm-level evidence of how their oats are grown — both to secure a more resilient Bri

tish supply and to give them credible sustainability stories to put in front of their own customers. Robin Appel already supplies oat groats into Plant Food Bases, its joint venture with processor Framptons producing bases for the UK oat drinks market.

Under the partnership, each of the 15 farms will be measured across the six areas at the heart of Soil Association Exchange's approach — carbon, soil, water, biodiversity, animal welfare and social. This will provide a whole-farm baseline rather than a single carbon number. Each grower then receives one-to-one, bespoke time with an independent adviser to create action plans to help improve their scores, alongside a group workshop at Robin Appel's Fisherton site to share learning across the cohort.

Tom Wood, Trading Director at Robin Appel Ltd, said:

"Oat drinks have gone mainstream, and the brands we supply want to know — in real detail — that the crop behind them is grown well and grown to last. There's a lot of loose talk about sustainability in our industry, and we weren’t interested in green window-dressing. We backed this because it's genuinely rigorous: whole-farm measurement plus independent advice our growers can trust. That credibility is exactly what our customers are asking for — and it's good for the farmer, the brand, and the long-term resilience of British oats."

Backing for local supply chains amid extreme weather

Robin Appel Ltd’s unique approach means that their growers are part of a short, localised supply chain, with crops grown and processed within a 50-mile radius of their Hampshire Headquarters. The grain trader reports strong buy-in for the Soil Association Exchange scheme amongst it’s growers, with both conventional and organic systems in the cohort of farmers signed up to participate.

This data collection is especially important in light of the ongoing drought. Recent analysis by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit found that three relatively poor UK harvests this decade resulted in a cumulative weather-related loss of £2.3bn across cereals, with poor harvests in 2024 and 2025 wiping out production equivalent to 13% of England's wheat, barley and oat area. For a weather-sensitive crop like oats — where rain at harvest affect both yield and the specific weight that determines human-food grade — resilient, well-evidenced domestic supply is becoming a competitive necessity for brands.

Mike Bond, Sales Manager at Soil Association Exchange, said:

"This is exactly the kind of supply chain leadership we want to see. Robin Appel Ltd has recognised the need to measure and provide farm level data, and how this will add value to the whole supply chain. With a key processor and brands in support, this is a great initiative supporting their supplying farmers. The Exchange metrics provide scientifically rigorous data, and by pairing this insight with independent expert advice for each farm, we can turn that measurement into change on the ground. The challenges for arable farmers are very real, and Robin Appel Ltd are rising to that challenge, supporting their farmers, building resilience, these Fifteen farms are just the start.”

The programme is up and running already, with results feeding both farm-level action plans and supply chain reporting.

A version of this article previously featured online on 6th August 2026 in The Grocer.