To mark IGD’s 100th Birthday, HRH Prince of Wales spoke at the recent IGD convention via a special video message. Read the full transcript below:

	The video was shown to over 500 delegates

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I just begin by apologizing for the fact that I am appearing before you in this somewhat disembodied and virtual form, but I very much wanted to add my congratulations to the Institute of Grocery Distribution on reaching this historic milestone.

Looking back over the last one hundred years, there can be few areas of life which have changed as greatly as food – and people’s relationship to it. There is no doubt that huge advances have been made. Thanks to the foresight and entrepreneurship of many people – some of them in this room today – people in this country don’t, except in exceptional cases, want for food. And the choice available to them is staggering – way beyond anything the Certificated Grocers could have imagined in 1909.

But I hope you will forgive me for saying that some of the changes have not been quite so positive. Until thirty years ago, food was a precious resource and highly valued – as were those who produced it. Before the spike in commodity prices last year, too many of us viewed food as cheap and disposable. The facts speak for themselves. Today we spend only around 10 per cent of our income on feeding ourselves compared with nearly 30 per cent in the 1960s. At the same time, we throw away 30 per cent of the food we buy. All this while millions still die from starvation and the developed world suffers from an obesity epidemic. And farmers – those who produce the very stuff of life – are not even recognized or properly rewarded for the crucial role they play. Something surely has gone wrong.

At the same time the world is now facing probably its greatest ever challenge – that of climate change. I am afraid it will impact on each and every one of us and, as those in this room know better than most, it will change for ever how and where food is grown across the globe.

It is at times of crisis like this – and I use that word advisedly – that so much depends on quality of leadership, and therefore I can only commend you on the prescience of the title of this year’s conference, “Leadership in adversity”.

And if I may say so, the IGD has a very fine track record of giving exactly the sort of direction needed – something I know from personal experience. For many years Business in the Community, of which I am President, has worked very closely with the IGD. To give but one example – back in 2000 we started a project to encourage local sourcing when the whole concept of regional and local sourcing was very much in its infancy. I know what a difference this made to countless small and specialist producers who wanted to supply the retailers, but didn’t know how to do it, and we have seen some wonderful success stories. Above all, I hope it helped the retailers to give their customers what they wanted.

I can only say that the IGD’s work on sustainability is of the utmost importance. For instance, its drive to reduce vehicle miles in the transportation of food has so far resulted in 53 million lorry miles being taken off the roads every year. And I know it does a huge amount to help the farming community, not least by training farmers in Northern Ireland on consumer and retail trends.

But the question we must all ask ourselves is this – are we doing enough in the face of the threats confronting us? Many of you are, I know, doing a huge amount to make your businesses more environmentally sustainable and I can only congratulate you – what you are doing is of the greatest possible importance. But the world is going to change in ways that I do not believe we have begun to grasp and those of you in this room have, without doubt, a greater ability to influence people’s behaviour than just about any other single group. Your relationship with consumers is direct and intimate. But are you able and willing to use that relationship to be a force for good – looking to the long term, rather than the short-term demands made on you by your shareholders?

There are, inevitably, so many issues to be addressed: the use of palm oil, for example, grown on land which was once tropical rainforest; excessive packaging; the sourcing of fish from unsustainable stocks; buying from abroad when the food could and should be produced at home; encouraging genuinely sustainable agriculture; nurturing the small producers; reducing waste and cutting emissions. The list is endless, but you have the most extraordinary power to tackle these issues.

I know from having worked with so many of the companies in this room over the years through Business in the Community that you have a remarkable track record of making a difference for the better. But the challenge has never been greater than it is now. I can only repeat again – and at the risk of sounding like a stuck record – the world is going to change in ways we can barely imagine – and it is going to start happening faster and faster. Barely a week goes by without another scientific study telling us that climate change is happening more quickly than had been predicted.

We stand at a critical juncture. Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of time. In March I said it was some 100 months left – now it is 93. There is no doubt that you have the ability, the position and the resources to make the most enormous difference and there are so many who are depending upon you – in this country and across the world. If I may say so, now more than ever is the time for wise and inspirational leadership. Without a doubt you will be more effective acting collectively than alone and that is why the role of the Institute of Grocery Distribution is of such importance.

The IGD has a remarkable track record as a real force for good within the food sector. One of the reasons for this, of course, is the effectiveness of your very special chief executive, Joanne Denney-Finch. I have had the great pleasure of working with her on many occasions and there is no doubt that she is an outstanding ambassador for all that is best in the food sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we are celebrating one hundred years of a very special organization and I can only hope that you have a fittingly inspiring conference and that you celebrate your centenary at tonight’s gala dinner with the style and flair for which you are renowned."

More information

	IGD Convention 2009 review
	IGD’s centenary convention took place on 13th October 2009. Delegates heard from eleven senior leaders from the UK grocery industry, with additional input from HRH The Prince Of Wales and Lord Coe. Read the full review here.

	IGD's centenary
	See a video charting the development of the food & grocery industry over the last 100 years and an interactive timeline of IGD's history in our new centenary section.