Hexham MP, Guy Opperman, has congratulated Sainsbury's for tweaking their website in response to his campaign for retailers to clearly advertise British produce.
A new 'Best of British' section showcases 450 British products, which customers can purchase in a move that will support local farmers. The retailer explains that through buying British, customers will get the freshest and highest-quality produce available, as well as ensuring fairness for farmers, by paying dairy farmers a fair price for milk.
The MP wrote to each of the major supermarkets at the start of January to urge them to showcase the very best of local British farming produce through clear labelling on their online websites. The changes which came into effect over the weekend, means that Sainsbury's becomes the largest supermarket to support homegrown produce in this way, following Morrisons and Aldi, who made similar changes to the way they sell and advertise online.
Welcoming Sainsbury's announcement, Guy Opperman MP said:
'Farmers in Northumberland work day in day out to keep us fed with some of the finest produce found anywhere in the world.
'It is essential that we support them in any way we can and I am delighted that Sainsbury's has listened to my campaign so that customers can now be directed to buying local, and bolstering our rural economy.'
A spokesperson from Sainsbury's said:
'Thanks to the new page spotlighting over 450 100% British-sourced grocery products – including popular produce, meat, dairy, eggs and chilled essentials - customers can now find and buy locally produced products even more easily, and better support local producers and growers.
'Customers can also choose from a range of recipes using British products to inspire mealtimes, such as a British Beef Wellington and a Big British Salad. We work with over 15,000 British farmers, sourcing £2bn worth of produce, every year. We have made a series of investments to help our suppliers, including a significant £72m of extra support in the last couple of years alone. Last year, we also announced that we would be making an annual investment into our Dairy Development Group to support dairy farms in the future.'
Anna Simpson, NFU's county advisor for Northumberland and North Durham said:
'It’s fantastic to see that Sainsburys has got behind the NFU campaign and they are backing British farmers by adding a British section online in order to signpost shoppers to home-grown produce. Independent research shows the public want to buy more British food from retailers and the NFU has been championing this issue for some time. The addition of the British section online by Sainsbury’s will help customers support British farmers.'