What Frederic Smart does

Frederic Smart & Son Ltd is a privately-held, family-owned agricultural trading and logistics company headquartered at Papworth Business Park, Cambridge, United Kingdom. The business was established in June 1906 by Frederic Smart as a local grain merchant in Cambridge and has remained under continuous family stewardship across four generations. Operating today as a unified group with complementary divisions, the company trades combinable crops including cereals, oilseeds, and pulses from assured farm businesses to major consumers such as millers, maltsters, crushers, and compounders both domestically and for export. Through its dedicated seed business it produces and supplies cereal and pulse seed (over 95% certified to HVS) and a full grass seed range; through agency arrangements with major fertiliser manufacturers it distributes straights, compounds, and bespoke blends to arable farmers.

The logistics arm, branded Frederic Smart Logistics, operates from three modern warehouses at Papworth Everard (Cambridge), Peterborough, and Warrington, totaling more than 300,000ft² of BRC AA Grade accredited storage with over 45,000 pallet spaces and an owned delivery fleet. Services span storage, handling, transport, and co-packing for food ingredients, packaging, and finished goods customers. The group holds TASCC and Organic Food Federation certifications and maintains GMO-free status across all sites, with on-site solar generation supplying approximately 25% of facility energy. The wholly-owned subsidiary R J Edwards & Sons (acquired August 2022) provides haulage and co-packing operations, while Granta Processors (separated 1996) handles contract seed and pulse processing.

The company makes money through four transactional revenue streams: grain trading between farms and major consumers on transaction-fee terms, seed production and supply to arable farmers, fertiliser distribution via manufacturer agency arrangements, and contracted storage and distribution services billed monthly with receiving, handling, loading-out, and storage unit charges (minimum monthly invoice £25.00, payment terms 28 days). Go-to-market is enterprise field sales with dedicated named contacts managing long-term partnerships, supplemented by a direct website, Facebook, LinkedIn, and email channels. Customers are concentrated in UK agriculture and food-adjacent manufacturing, with no disclosed external capital and concentrated family ownership.

Name

Frederic Smart

Legal name

Frederic Smart & Son Ltd

Website

https://frederic-smart.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1906

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Frederic Smart & Son Ltd is a family-owned UK agricultural trading and BRC AA Grade accredited logistics company, founded in 1906, trading combinable crops, producing cereal and grass seed, distributing fertiliser, and providing food-grade warehousing across Cambridge, Peterborough, and Warrington.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Papworth Everard

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grain Trading: Trading all types of combinable crops including cereals, oilseeds and pulses from assured farm businesses to supply consumers from millers to maltsters, crushers and compounders, both locally and abroad.
2. Seed Production and Supply: Dedicated seed business specializing in production and supply of cereal and pulse seed, with focus on selection, multiplication and supply of cereal and pulse seed for the arable sector.
3. Fertiliser Supply: Through agency arrangements with major fertiliser manufacturers and blenders, offering a full range of agricultural fertilisers including straights, autumn and spring compounds, and bespoke blends.
4. Storage and Logistics Services: Warehousing and distribution services from modern warehouses in Cambridge, Peterborough and Warrington with over 300,000 ft² of BRC AA Grade accredited space. Own fleet of vehicles offering full warehousing and distribution service.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Frederic Smart is a UK agricultural trading and logistics company that trades combinable crops (cereals, oilseeds and pulses) from assured farm businesses to major consumers such as millers, maltsters, crushers and compounders. The company also operates a dedicated seed business for cereal and grass seed production and supply, distributes a full range of agricultural fertilisers through agency arrangements, and provides BRC AA Grade accredited warehousing and distribution services from over 300,000 ft² of space across three UK locations.

Product overview

Frederic Smart & Son Ltd is an established East Anglian agricultural trading and warehousing company with over 100 years of history. The company operates as a unified business with distinct but complementary divisions: Grain Trading (cereals, oilseeds, pulses), Seed Business (cereal seed and grass seed production/supply), Fertiliser distribution, and Logistics/Warehousing services. Frederic Smart Logistics operates as a separate entity providing BRC AA Grade accredited storage and distribution services from three UK locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Frederic Smart Logistics: Storage and distribution division operating from modern warehouses in Cambridge, Peterborough and Warrington with BRC AA Grade accredited warehousing space

Products and services

• Cereal Seed
• Grass Seed
• Grain Trading
• Fertiliser
• Grain Storage
• Frederic Smart Logistics (Warehousing and Distribution Service)

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• R J Edwards & SonscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2022Acquired in August 2022, R J Edwards & Sons was a Warrington-based haulier and family business sharing the same ethos and dedication to customer service. The acquisition added a fleet of delivery vehicles, 100,000 ft² of BRC accredited warehouse space, and a dedicated co-packing operation.
• Major Fertiliser Manufacturers and BlenderscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThrough agency arrangements with major fertiliser manufacturers and blenders, Frederic Smart is able to offer a full range of agricultural fertilisers to meet customer requirements, comprising straights, autumn and spring compounds, and bespoke blends.
• Preferred HaulierscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFrederic Smart works closely with a select group of hauliers that share the same values as the company. These hauliers are used to communicate, plan and manage the movement of grain from farm to consumer through a coordinated network.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Frontier Agriculture: One of the UK's largest grain merchants and crop input suppliers, offering grain marketing, storage, seed and fertiliser. Directly comparable to Frederic Smart's combined trading/seed/fertiliser/warehousing model, though at substantially larger national scale.
• Openfield: UK grain marketing and distribution cooperative handling combinable crops from farm to end consumer. Directly comparable as a vertically integrated grain merchant with storage and haulage capabilities.
• Camgrain: Central grain storage and marketing cooperative headquartered in Cambridgeshire, operating central storage sites for farmer-members. Directly comparable as an East Anglian competitor in grain storage, handling and marketing.
• Wynnstay Group: Welsh/UK-wide agricultural supplies group offering arable inputs, feed, fertiliser and grain marketing. Comparable for its multi-product agricultural trading model serving arable farmers, though with stronger rural retail exposure.

Broad incumbents

• ADM Agriculture: UK arm of global agribusiness major ADM, active in grain origination, storage, trading and processing across multiple commodities. Comparable in commodity trading and storage but operates at far greater scale and with broader global product breadth.
• Viterra: Global agricultural commodity trader (formerly Glencore Agriculture) with significant UK origination, storage and marketing operations. Comparable for grain trading and storage activities but with much broader international reach.
• Cargill (UK agriculture): Major global agricultural commodity trader with UK grain origination and supply-chain operations. Comparable as a competitor in UK grain trading and agricultural supply, part of a much wider global agri-commodities portfolio.

Regional players

• Countrywide Farmers: UK agricultural merchant and rural retailer supplying arable farmers with crop protection, fertiliser, seed and grain marketing. Comparable multi-product agricultural trading overlap, though with primary geographic focus on the West of England and Wales rather than East Anglia.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/p/Frederic-Smart-Son-Ltd-61556069062037
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/frederic-smart-son-ltd

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Frederic Smart