Asda pledges support for British farmers
for British farmers with the launch of a new campaign designed to
promote British food and educate consumers as to the source of what
they eat. But is it just a cynical move to convince the regulators
that US-owned Asda is best-placed to buy the Safeway group?
Asda, the UK's third largest food retail group, has unveiled a new programme designed to promote British food and drink products.
The new Buy British campaign was launched at Asda's annual farming conference in Leeds, and will feature the tagline 'Good, Honest Value - Celebrating Home-grown Produce'.
Asda said the campaign would boost sales of British meat, produce and dairy products throughout its chain of 259 stores, with the aim of increasing income for its farmer suppliers. The Buy British campaign is also designed to educate shoppers about the origins of their food.
The supermarket's move follows a recent survey by the National Farmers Union (NFU) in England which highlighted the fact that most consumers have lost touch with rural Britain.
Dr Chris Brown, Asda's head of agriculture, told delegates at the conference: "Customers tell us that they prefer to buy British produce wherever possible. But many don't realise that 90 per cent of the food we sell is actually sourced from within Britain [excluding food which cannot be produced in Britain, such as tropical fruit]."
"That is why we are committed to educating customers about where their food comes from in the first place, while continuing to work with our farming partners to increase the amount and range of British produce we sell in our stores," Brown added.
As part of the Buy British campaign, the supermarket is planning to launch 60 new British products in 2003, including English stilton with Champagne and strawberries and pork steaks with Thai butter. It will also extend the British produce-growing season, thus reducing foreign imports - for example, the carrot season will now last for 50 weeks, and the new potato season will be extended by an extra 10 weeks.
Labels will also be changed, according to the chain, with all the company's products being relabelled during 2003 to ensure that the country of origin is clearly shown. References to 'product of EU' will be removed and replaced with the country of origin clarifying exactly where the primal product is from - for example, bacon that contains French pork will be clearly labelled as such.
Asda has also pledged to investing £1.3 million (€1.9m) in new product development, in-store promotions and new labelling.
There will also be specific Scottish and Welsh product promotions in all stores located in those countries, and a 12-week promotional and sampling programme in all its UK stores, highlighting different products from the meat, produce and chilled areas each week with the aim of encouraging customers to try new British products.
UK supermarkets have frequently been criticised for not doing enough to support local producers - either by not stocking their products at all or demanding such punitive terms from them that it is all but impossible for local players to get their products listed. But Asda claims that it has in fact added more than 800 local products to its chain of stores since 2002, through schemes such as Best of the Lakes, Best of Wales, Best of Cornwall and the West Country and Scotland's Best.
Brown added: "We have worked closely with farmers and their representatives in the last few months to address some of their concerns about labelling and the promotion of British produce. By working in partnership we have been able to devise a new open and honest labelling policy that clearly highlights the country of origin. We have also pledged to promote the 'Buy British' message in all our stores to encourage our customers to support home-grown produce."
Ben Gill, president of the NFU, gave his support to the scheme: "It is now much easier for Asda customers to identify which products are home-grown and therefore easier for them to actively support British farmers. By doing so, they know they will be getting good, honest value for their money. This is an important step forward and gives the lead for all to follow."
This year's campaign follows on from the agricultural mission and pledges launched by Asda at last year's conference. Brown explained: "The pledges affirm our sourcing policy of buying British wherever possible. They demonstrate that our support for farmers is steadfast; for example 100 per cent of our fresh chicken and turkey is British, 95 per cent of our fresh lamb is British, nearly 90 per cent of our fresh pork is British, and 80 per cent of our fresh beef is British."
Cynical observers would suggest that Asda's move comes at a time when the US-owned group is trying to win approval for its bid for the Safeway chain, and is designed to show that the company only has the best interest of British farmers and consumers in mind.
Similar claims by market leader Tesco - in particular regarding its support for British growers - have been rubbished by organisations such as Friends of the Earth (very much one of the cynical observers) but the NFU's support for Asda's scheme certainly gives it move weight. Whether this will have a beneficial effect in the long term - on British farming and on Asda's bid for Safeway - remains to be seen.
