Fiddleford recognised as Tesco breaks £1bn

Tesco has recognised Fiddleford Mushrooms as key in breaking the £1 billion local food sales mark.

The UK’s number one supermarket has hit the milestone within five years of setting the target as it set up regional buying offices in 2006.

In holding Fiddleford up as a case study, Tesco said it had worked with the supplier since 1996, stepping up the partnership in 2006 when trialing product labelled “Locally Grown”.

The mushrooms were delivered directly to the store for four weeks from the North Dorset firm which saw a 75 per cent uplift in sales on the product, primarily due to the labelling.

Tesco CEO Philip Clarke said: “The team has met this target and we won’t stop there. Many customers want to be able to buy local and support producers from their region, particularly in the current economic climate.

“The quality and range of local products we offer is fantastic and today we stock over 5,000 local lines from over 500 local and regional suppliers in the UK.”

In December 2010, Fiddleford Mushrooms completed a £3 million investment in production facilities.

The investment, which was privately funded, comprises 12 growing grooms, each holding 52 tonnes of phase three compost linked by a service corridor to a new packing facility.

A spokesperson said: “Local engineers and service contractors, supported by a small team of industry specialists, have delivered an outstanding facility that is consistently delivering high quality and optimal yields of fresh, local mushrooms for distribution throughout the South of England. Fiddleford Mushrooms is one of North Dorset's largest employers and a big contributor to the local economy where over £2m annually is recycled back into the community through staff wages and the use of local businesses. All staff are employed directly by the company and nearly all of them live within three miles of the farm.”