Retailers are increasingly selling imported produce below banners which back British farming, an investigation has found.
Seven of the UK's top supermarkets are selling imported fruit and vegetables below banners which highlight the shop's readiness to back British farming.
The Sunday Mirror investigation shows that at a London M&S store, a display showed the “Best of British” Union Jack logo, yet the raspberries on the shelf were from Portugal, the cherries from Chile and the strawberries from Egypt.
The investigation found similar examples at Tesco, Waitrose, Lidl, Asda, Morrisons and Aldi across the UK.
At a Tesco Metro in Canary Wharf, a banner plugged a Hampshire farm that grows fruit for the retailer, but the apples below it were from France.
And a banner read “working with more British farmers”, but lettuce from Spain and Portugal was found beneath it.
At Waitrose in Worcester, a banner above fruit showed the retailer's commitment to sourcing produce from a UK farm, but the selection included Italian-sourced fruit.
The investigation follows a survey which shows that 77% of British people agree that it is important to support local farmers, while only 3% disagree.
According to the survey, 45% think that British food tastes better, and just 9% disagrees.
However, any price increase in British produce will put consumers off from buying home-grown, research shows.
According to the Consumer Focus report from AHDB, maintaining price competitiveness will be key for the UK agricultural sector in a post-Brexit world.
Even a relatively small increase of just ten per cent could result in 30 per cent of shoppers opting for a lower-priced import.
