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Welsh Produce to Stand Out on Tesco Shelves

26 Jan 2010 12:23 PM
Research carried out by Tesco shows that more of its customers want to buy locally sourced food and drink and need more assistance when it comes to locating them.

In order to help its customers locate quality Welsh produce, Tesco is today (26 January) launching new signage in 29 superstores and 15 Tesco Extra stores right across Wales (full list under Notes to Editors).

Six award-winning True Taste producers, a Welsh Assembly Government brand, have been selected to feature on the new signage which will feature on shelves up and down the country. They include Edwards of Conwy, Brains Brewery, Cadog, First Milk, Tomos Watkin and South Caernarfon Creameries.

The Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, said:

“One of the priorities of the Welsh Assembly Government is to make it easier for consumers to buy food and drink produced in Wales, and this new signage will significantly help in achieving that goal.

“Local sourcing of food and drink is one of our priorities as set out in One Wales and the Local Sourcing Action Plan. The Plan aims to support local food and drink producers as well as assisting them in their efforts to access local markets. The Plan also aims to help Wales maintain high standards in food safety, develop local food cultures and reduce “food miles.”

The signage, which is of post-card size, will include some background information and a photograph of each producer along with the True Taste logo.

Mark Grant, Tesco’s Senior Buying Manager for Wales, explains:

“These producers are producing award winning products that carry the True Taste logo, which are recognised by consumers and the food and drink industry as a sign of excellence.

“Our customer research tells us that people are increasingly looking out for regional and local produce and we are delighted to be able to offer them a wide range of local Welsh products.”

Statistics show that people are far more interested in food production, provenance and buying British than ever before. Research shows that 84% of customers claim they would buy more locally sourced products if made available to them in supermarkets and that 32% of people view local food as a way to take positive steps for the environment. Tesco launched a local sourcing initiative in 2008 and has 450 regional products in its Welsh stores.  

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