Bacterial pathogens of fresh produce are responsible for substantial losses through disease, damage and failure to meet market specifications. An effective, sustainable solution is a priority across the UK and wider European industry and there is increasing interest in the potential for bacteriophage to meet this need. This presentation will focus on our work on ‘Blackleg’, is a major cause of seed potato downgrading and rejections in northern Europe, together with production losses from associated tuber soft rot. Blackleg inoculum (Pectobacterium & Dickeya) is tranferred and multiplied between successive field generations, with the industry having a tolerance level of <1%. Disease problems in seed multiplication create issues for the whole of the supply chain, with up to 30% of ware crops affected from planting infected seed stocks and post-harvest rots affecting the processing, fresh sales, wholesale and pre-packing industries. The challenge we are addressing is to develop an innovative, sustainable bactericide treatment applicable across the industry, to both reduce seed tuber infection levels and protect against wastage from tuber soft rots downstream. The creation of effective bacteriophage mixtures to tackle the significant variability in the plant pathogens will be described, together with the challenges of integrating the bacteriophage technology into mainstream agricultural and food-processing practices.