Asda has teamed up with Kent County Council to promote locally grown apples as part of the council's 'Produced in Kent' campaign. From today, eleven ASDA stores across the south east will start actively promoting local apples, with the aim of increasing sales for Kentish growers, whilst educating customers about where their food comes from.
Karen Todd, local sourcing manager at ASDA said: "This year we are giving even more shelf space to English apples, placing them in more prominent positions in our produce departments, and giving every store flags and bunting to promote homegrown produce. For our stores in Kent we have also created 'Produced in Kent' liners and point of sale materials to help highlight that the vast majority of our English apples are grown locally here in the garden of England."
Kent County Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Alex King, said: "The County Council is making it clear these are local apples for local people. I hope that Kent’s residents will support this by only buying apples where they see the 'Produced in Kent' label. This is a first for Kent apples to be promoted in this way across the south east and we are delighted with the support that we have received."
Rob Weaver, who manages Kent County Council's 'Produced in Kent' campaign, said: "ASDA should be applauded for the work it is doing to promote local apples. Its support of growers in Kent is excellent, and demonstrates what can be achieved by working together. People clearly want to buy local produce, and by supporting our campaign, ASDA is making it easier for customers to do just that."
A specialist promotional team is visiting every ASDA store in Britain to ensure that its English apples are promoted as effectively as possible during the English season to drive sales. Karen Todd added: "We are doing free sampling in all our stores of English Cox apples during October.
Unfortunately the consumption of Cox is dropping, so we are doing everything we can to encourage customers to buy back into it."
The sampling teams will focus on Cox's unique flavour compared to other imported varieties and highlight that it is the main UK dessert apple.
