Food Procurement (Hansard, 9 January 1996)

§ 11. Mr. Campbell-Savours
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will issue guidelines covering the procedure for food procurement in the armed forces. [6349]

§ Mr. Arbuthnot
Procurement and supply of food to the armed forces is undertaken by NAAFI against a three-year contract which began on 1 October 1994. Food is required to meet specifications or standards agreed between the MOD and NAAFI and to provide value for money.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
The Minister may be aware that I have been organising a national boycott of Campbell Soups products because of the disgraceful way in which that company treated my constituents when it announced the closure of an extremely profitable factory in Maryport. May we have an assurance that Ministers will say to NAAFI, "Boycott Campbell Soups products and, in particular, Fray Bentos products"? Will the Minister also advise the Minister of State for the Armed Forces to follow suit?

§ Mr. Arbuthnot
I suspect that a bowl of soup is just what I need at the moment. I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman's vigour in pursuing his campaigns. The NAAFI does not buy soup from Campbell Soups, because it buys on the basis of price and does not buy condensed soup. An interesting statistic that the hon. Gentleman will wish to know is that the Army spends £125,000 a year on soup.

§ Mr. Wilkinson
Although Napoleon Bonaparte rightly understood that an army marches on its stomach, is not the problem with the British Army today that it gets rather more food than it needs, as is shown by the performance in objective procedures such as the P Company selection test and the basic fitness test?

§ Mr. Arbuthnot
No.

§ Mrs. Anne Campbell
Will the Minister confirm that the guidelines covering procedure for the procurement of military ambulances ensures that the cheapest unit that meets the specifications is the one that is purchased?

§ Mr. Arbuthnot
The hon. Lady is again to be congratulated on her ingenuity. I know of no guidelines on the procedures covering military ambulances in terms such as she suggests.