Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones – why rural diversity matters

"You can’t get any more diverse than me,” says Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones bluntly as we kick off our interview in a rain-lashed unit on an industrial estate near Chippenham.

The outspoken entrepreneur has a point. “When I started my brand, The Black Farmer, I deliberately wanted to coin it that so people could suddenly ask the question, ‘Actually, how many black farmers are there in Britain?’ That was back in 2004. All these years later nothing has changed. It’s still just me,” he laments.

This lack of diversity across the food and farming industry is why I’m here to meet Emmanuel-Jones, in the new fulfilment centre for his burgeoning online business, along with my colleague Edward Dixon. Edward is a senior member of our Rural Asset Management team and also sits on Knight Frank’s Business Balance group. He’s here to interview The Black Farmer for a short film we are creating.

In a publication devoted to environmental, social and governance (ESG), the obvious interviewee for this slot would have been a conservation-minded estate owner, but that would have been, well, too obvious, and, in all honesty, nothing new. Instead, Edward and I wanted to broaden the report’s horizons by focusing on something a bit more thought-provoking – and Emmanuel-Jones doesn’t disappoint.

“Everything about my life is a goddamn challenge. If you’re trying to do anything new, to upset the apple cart, you’re going to face challenges. I’ve got some remarkable stories,” he tells us.

“When I bought my farm down in Devon, for example, people were shocked. They thought, ‘Why is a black guy coming to buy a farm in Devon?’ It just didn’t make sense. I can remember putting up a polytunnel and the police were called because they thought, ‘Ah, he’s using it as a cover to grow weed.’" But Emmanuel-Jones isn’t after sympathy. He’s too focused on new innovations – he introduced the first mainstream gluten-free sausage to the UK – and partnerships to worry about what people think.

His main concern is that the rural economy will be the biggest loser if it can’t embrace the power of diversity. 

“For those of us who love rural Britain, it is part of our responsibility to try and make it a lot more diverse. That will do a number of things. It will actually bring some interesting ideas to rural Britain. One of the things I’ve always been interested in is that a lot of the foods we import into this country can be grown here.

“There’s a lot of money that can be made if those people were allowed to be part of the rural community, and it would be good for the British economy. So, I don’t want us to be charitable, I want us to see that there’s an economic reason for doing that. If you do not actually come to terms with the fact Britain is changing, then you will become a victim of that change.”

He also stresses that, despite worrying about lack of diversity, he doesn’t believe people in the countryside are inherently racist.

“They might be naïve, they may be different in their language, but you approach it that way, rather than starting by accusing people. That’s nonsense. Sometimes it’s just about understanding the right language.”

As well as building his own brands, Emmanuel-Jones nurtures fledgling businesses either through The Hatchery (see below), his dedicated incubator for young entrepreneurs, or by providing support and guidance to passionate entrepreneurs he feels need a helping hand.“I would not be where I am today if people didn’t say, ‘Look, this guy doesn’t have the qualifications, he can’t read and write, but there’s something about him and I’m going to give him a break,’ and that’s why I’m successful. That’s the sort of philosophy that I would like to carry on.”

Speaking to some of those businesses he is championing, it becomes clear that race and colour is only part of the diversity issue facing the wider food chain, and business in general. Suzie Bidlake, a 57-year-old who imports artisan handicrafts from India, tells me post-menopausal women are ignored, while Gracie Tyrrell, one half of the Squirrel Sisters healthy snacks brand, says some potential backers were worried what would happen if one of them became pregnant.

Despite having a keen eye for identifying successful entrepreneurs, Emmanuel-Jones entertains no comparison with the dragons on the popular TV show. “They want people to fight, and I just think with things like Covid-19 that’s no longer relevant. The collegiate approach is what we want.”

That’s not to say he is a paragon of touch-feely wokeness. Innovation and entrepreneurship are what drives The Black Farmer. It’s why he voted “leave” in the 2016 EU referendum. “The best thing that’s going to happen is to get rid of subsidies, so the people who are in the industry are there because they love it and they absolutely want to be,” he explains.

“Change is good. I love change. Most people think they should try to avoid uncertainty, but all entrepreneurs do is make a friend of uncertainty. You go to any developing nation, go to India, there’s death, there’s uncertainty around them all the time, but it’s vibrant. There’s probably more entrepreneurial spirit in that continent because actually, they know it’s a part of life, not something to be dreaded.”

And with that Emmanuel-Jones is off to another meeting. No doubt part of his relentless mission to build his own brand – a Black Farmer visitor attraction is in the works – and those that he supports. 

From our short conversation, it’s clear he is desperate to see more diversity in the food business, but at the same time he obviously relishes being unique: “I’ve always believed that to be successful in business, especially as an entrepreneur, you need to have the outsider’s mindset.”

Views from the Hatchery

The Squirrel Sisters 

Despite creating a range of tasty sugar-free snacks, Gracie and Sophie Tyrrell struggled to find an investor they were comfortable working with. “A lot of them wanted to know about our personal future plans. At the time we were in our late 20s and I think they assumed in the next few years families might happen,” explains Gracie.

But they clicked with Emmanuel-Jones when they contacted him after hearing a podcast he appeared on. “We didn’t know much about The Hatchery but we arranged to meet up to tell him about Squirrel Sisters,” she says. 

“What was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting ended up being three hours. Wilfred saw that what we needed wasn’t money so much as help to define our strategy. It was so interesting talking to him and he had all these amazing ideas.” With their snacks and share have recently launched in the US.

The Gym Kitchen

“If something’s going wrong, we can bounce ideas off each other,” says Segun Akinwoleola, founder of the Gym Kitchen macro ready-meals brand, when I ask him about being part of The Hatchery. “It’s not a Dragons’ Den, because Wilfred hates that model, where entrepreneurs are just bashed for a number. It really is about creating products and brands, and being passionate about them, and just trying to change people’s lives.

“I’m a healthy food brand, and I want as many people to change their lives, to live healthier, if possible. Why should I turn up and be screamed at and shouted at? That’s just not Wilfred’s style. He is a hard-going guy, but not a Dragons’ Den type,” explains Akinwoleola, who says it was valuable to have a role model he could relate to. “I can probably name on one hand the brands that I know that are black-owned in retail.” 

Read more at theblackfarmer.com