Waitrose and Co-op have become the latest supermarkets to launched ‘Best of British’ sections on their websites in the ongoing cross-Party campaign I supported by my colleague Luke Evans MP, which called on the nation’s supermarkets to make it easier for consumers to buy homegrown produce.
Myself and 125 other cross-Party MPs signed an open letter calling on supermarkets to highlight the very best of British produce by implementing a ‘Buy British’ section online.
The letter, written by Dr Luke Evans MP, stated ‘Our ask is simple, create a tab that collates produce from farmers,’ citing consumer choice, environmental benefits and support for farmers as reasons to make the change.
The recent move to implement a ‘Best of British’ section by Waitrose and the Co-op shows increased support for the MPs campaign amid country-wide calls to buy more homegrown produce.
Morrisons, Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Ocado have also launched online sections collating all British-sourced food and drink since I signed the open letter.
It’s great to see two more supermarkets support our campaign for a ‘Buy British’ button online, bringing the total to six major national supermarkets which reach millions of customers across the United Kingdom! The aim of the ‘Buy British’ tab is simple; to make it even easier for shoppers to buy homegrown produce, which has the dual bonus of helping to protect our environment while supporting Britain’s farmers.
Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth, said "I’m so pleased the supermarket industry has seen the value of my campaign. Implementing a ‘Buy British’ section online is a relatively simple change that gives consumers greater choice, supports our farmers and cuts down on unnecessary food miles. Better still, this hasn’t required any legislation; this is farmers, MPs, supermarkets and the public all working together – with Government backing – to make a change! I’ll be following up with the likes of Tesco and ASDA, who have yet to make the change, in the hope that they follow suit soon.”
Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said “UK farmers produce exceptional food to world-class standards. It’s great to see British supermarkets celebrating homegrown and reared produce by making it easier for customers to back our farmers and choose British food.”
David Exwood, Deputy President of the National Farmers’ Union, said “It’s really pleasing to see so many supermarkets supporting Dr Luke Evans fantastic campaign and backing British farmers and growers by adding buy British sections to their websites in order to signpost shoppers to home-grown produce. We know from our own independent research that the public want to buy more British food from retailers and why we have been championing this important issue for some time.”
A Waitrose spokesperson said “We are really proud of our British farmers. We do a great deal to promote the care and effort they put into producing food to our customers online and in our shops. We back our farmers by paying them a fair price for the high standards of environmental and animal welfare standards they deliver for us and offer our customers their high quality food at great value. We have recently added a ‘Best of British’ section to Waitrose.com. It includes some of our products which are 100% British all year round, such as fresh eggs, meat and milk. If it is a success with our customers we will consider expanding on it.”
Adele Balmforth, Co-op Propositions Director, said “As a member-owned organisation, we know food provenance really matters to our member owners, and we continue our longstanding support for British farmers, growers and local suppliers, championing home-grown produce, protein and products. The new Best of British page on our online platform, make it easier and quicker for our customers to buy British, which means we support local livelihoods and give our customers what they want.”
