Arguably, it didn’t need as grand a gesture as the 2020 commitment for Sainsbury’s to demonstrate its support for UK produce.

By massively overtrading on British in many lines, Sainsbury’s had already pledged its support for home-grown production, but what the 2020 target does underline is both the public’s desire for domestically grown food and retailers’ need to secure supplies as global demand soars.

As our analysis on page 12 shows, Sainsbury’s might not have every piece of the jigsaw in place yet, but seasonal extension and varietal development - working closely with key suppliers - will be essential planks in the objective to double the supply of British food over the next decade.

There’s no doubt supermarkets are having to work harder now to get growers on side. Spanish producers - huge suppliers to the UK market - have laid bare the extent that the pan-European retail price war is having on them, claiming that many growers are operating below production cost and face an uncertain future if returns don’t improve.

The hard discounters come in for particular criticism from the Spanish, and it just goes to show that beyond the big four, the competition is every bit as intense and is having just as much impact on the international supply chain. -