Ginsters puts the focus on locally grown veg

Ginsters is looking to capitalise on growing demand for locally grown veg following well-documented recent fresh produce shortages.

The baked snack brand held a planting day at Hay Farm, Cornwall this month alongside head farmer Jeremy Oatey to sow onion and potato plants for pastry fans participating in the Ginsters ‘Sow Your Own Slice’ service. The service was launched earlier this year to help get Brits involved in the field-to-fork journey of the Ginsters range.

The initiative was created after the brand found nearly one in two Brits have patchy knowledge about where or how veg is grown. The brand sources all its veg locally wherever possible and only uses British meat. 

Once grown, and after receiving updates along the way via ‘veg cam’, the vegetables will be harvested and then handmade into Cheese & Onion, Peppered Steak, or Chicken & Mushroom slices, before arriving to customers in a personalised pack with their name on it.

The launch of the service comes at a time when Ginsters says interest in British veg is at an all-time high, with Oatey claiming he has seen a 15 per cent uplift in interest following the recent global shortages.

Earlier this year, research from Ginsters found that nearly half of Brits (47 per cent) admit to having poor or patchy knowledge of how the veg they eat is grown. A fifth (20 per cent) have never seen a vegetable grow at all, with 79 per cent saying they have never personally grown a vegetable from seed to harvest, and one in 10 (11 per cent) having only ever seen their grandparents with green fingers.

When asked about their lack of knowledge, over half (58 per cent) of Brits said they wish they knew more about where the food they eat comes from and how produce is grown, and four in five (80 per cent) feel as a society we need to take a keener interest in the ingredients used in the food we eat.

In response, Ginsters has worked with Oatey to release a range of tips for those wishing to grow their own staples at home.