Retailers are being urged to get more local when it comes to sourcing fruit and vegetables, according to a new survey.
Improving convenience and access to locally produced food is vital to the sectors growth, claimed the IGD study, with independent c-stores and symbol groups offering significant opportunities.
The report, which was commissioned by IFE and unveiled at the show this week, revealed sales of local produce rose by five per cent last year from 3.7 billion in 2003.
Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, said: “Our research indicates there is growing demand for local and regional foods; 70 per cent of people in Britain want to buy them and 49 per cent want to buy them more than they do now.”
Top of consumers shopping lists when it comes to local foods is vegetables and fruit, purchased by 61 per cent and 45 per cent respectively.
While supermarkets are the most popular outlets to purchase local produce from, nearly a quarter of shoppers. 22 per cent, want to buy local and regional foods from convenience stores.
Denney-Finch said: “There is a huge opportunity for growth but suppliers and retailers need to work together if the sector is to reach its full potential.”
She said the industry needed to work harder to make the products more easily available to consumers. “It is an exciting time for this country’s small producers and farmers.”
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