Welsh supermarkets should sell more Welsh food than they do currently – that’s according to over 75% of shoppers surveyed recently by Atomik Research, who carried out the survey on behalf of NFU Cymru ahead of this week’s Royal Welsh Show.
Almost three quarters of those asked said they look for Welsh lamb or beef when shopping and over 50% surveyed said they would be prepared to pay more for it.
Unsurprisingly, but very disappointingly, shoppers don’t think Welsh produce is well promoted or signposted. According to those consumers surveyed Tesco performed the worst among the major supermarkets, with only one in every 10 shoppers saying they did a good job of either promoting or signposting Welsh food. Aldi was the only supermarket that shoppers felt sign-posted customers well to Welsh produce.
Stephen James, NFU Cymru President said, “We will be meeting all of the major retailers this week and we will be using these figures to drive home what Welsh customers have told us they want to see. We know that shoppers are keen to back Welsh farmers, but we keep being told by the major supermarkets that they are being driven by their customers. Well our message to them this week at the Royal Welsh Show is customers want to be able to find Welsh produce easily when they enter your supermarket.”
Almost three quarters of those surveyed would also like to see Welsh public services making more use of food sourced from Wales wherever possible.
In response to this statistic, Stephen James said, “We as a Union keep hammering home the message that we want to see more Welsh produce in our schools, hospitals, used by the MOD and other public bodies. These survey results show it is not just us saying it – it’s the general public wanting it. We must see a greater focus on provenance and quality of food with decisions made by public bodies not based solely on price.”
NFU Cymru commissioned Atomik Research to carry out the survey, which was carried out at the end of June 2015. Five hundred shoppers were surveyed, all ages and from across the length and breadth of Wales.
