Almost every respondent - 97 per cent - said they would like to see compulsory country of origin labelling.

'These results send out a clear signal to the whole food chain that there is an opportunity to create positive change,' said Angus Chalmers, Adas head of economic and business consultancy. 'Taking action now to harness this strength of feeling will not only allow UK producers to compete more equitably with foreign imports, but more importantly, provides customers with the information they need to make value choices about the food they buy. This has the potential to provide significant benefits across the food chain.' The interim results come from an annual questionnaire issued to 11,000 farm businesses in England and Wales. The full results will be published later this spring.

Topics