Our Finances
How Red Tractor was created
Following the creation of Red Tractor by the NFU in 2000, the ownership of Red Tractor was expanded to include organisations from across the entire UK supply chain: NFU, NFUS, UFU, AHDB, Dairy UK and BRC, with the Food & Drink Federation as observers. Each owner provides the ‘limited guarantee’ of £1 to Red Tractor but receives no income from this affiliation.
Initial seed funding was provided by the owners, however Red Tractor soon became self-sufficient through its farmer membership fee. Until 2021, some ongoing funding was provided by the MLC (subsequently AHDB), for specific services such as database cleaning and mycotoxin auditing, and to grow consumer awareness of the logo.
How we’re funded today
Today Red Tractor is funded from two principal sources:
Licensed food businesses
Approximately 60% of income is from food businesses (also known as Licensees).
These food businesses pay a fee to Red Tractor in order to make a ‘Red Tractor assured’ claim, and/or to use the Red Tractor logo on their products. Fees are charged relative to the sales value of the produce being licensed, with minimum and maximum caps.
Assured farmers and growers
Approximately 40% of income is from farmers and growers, who pay to be members of the Red Tractor scheme.
Fees vary by farm size and are administered by the farmers’ Certification Body. Invoices sent by Certification Bodies also include their fee for assessing the farm to Red Tractor Standards, which goes entirely to the Certification Body.
Member royalty fees from 01 April 2026
Operating as a not-for-profit business
As a private company limited by guarantee we have no shareholders and, operating as a not-for-profit business, all income is invested back into achieving our vision and delivering our purpose, to the benefit of the entire supply chain, including consumers.
Our Vision is to be “The Pride of British Food and Farming, valued by consumers, supply chains and governments”. Our purpose is “standards for British food that everyone can trust”.
We aim to deliver our purpose as efficiently as possible and be seen as a cost-effective asset to the supply chain. As an example, the Red Tractor scheme includes over 40,000 farmers and 800 Licensees, yet we operate with a permanent staff of just 37 heads, making us one of the leanest schemes in the UK,
Ensuring sound governance
Red Tractor’s finances are overseen by the Audit and Finance Committee. This is a sub-committee of the Main Board and includes five Red Tractor Board Directors drawn from each Director category – Sector Chair, Industry Director, Independent Director, CEO, Vice Chair and Chair. The Committee reviews budgets, updates the risk register and ensures sound financial management and together with external auditors reports the financial year-end accounts to the Main Board.
Another sub-committee – the Remunerations Committee, which similarly comprises Directors from each stage of the supply chain – Farmer, Processor and Retailer – is responsible for determining Board Directors and the CEO’s renumeration.
How we spend our funds
Red Tractor’s income covers the cost of its total operations, including its 37 staff, the 12 desk office, director salaries and the day-to-day management of the scheme.
The remaining funds are invested in strengthening the scheme and marketing the logo to the benefit of the entire food chain. Examples include, developing the online portal for farmers to upload documents; a Traceability Challenge Programme which provides confidence that the Red Tractor claim is only used on produce assured throughout the supply chain; a media campaign to promote Red Tractor at home; and trademark protection to enable the marketing of Red Tractor in export markets.
Read more about our governance
