A report from the National Consumer Council, which calls on UK supermarkets to clean up their act and help shoppers go green, has met with criticism, as well as plaudits from those multiples shown in a good light.

The survey of retailers - Greening the Supermarkets - was carried out in March and one of the key indicators on which multiples’ performance was measured was availability of in-season, UK-sourced vegetables.

The survey found that although Morrisons came top for sourcing UK vegetables in season, it let itself down by failing to promote them. Asda was right up there with Morrisons on sourcing, but managed to score well on promotion too. Tesco was criticised for its lack of signposting and promotion of its UK vegetable offer, as was Marks & Spencer. Waitrose, which was rated the top supermarket overall on issues such as waste reduction, recycling, sustainable farming and sourcing, was criticised for a having a high proportion of air-freighted fruit.

“The timing is probably the lowest period of availability in the year to source either UK fruit or vegetables,” complained Fresh Produce Consortium ceo Nigel Jenney. “We would suggest a more balanced view would be available if the exercise were repeated more frequently throughout the year.”

Asda was highlighted as doing the most to promote UK vegetables, sourcing 69 per cent from the UK. “We have put a massive amount of work into local sourcing, which is a big thing for us,” said a spokeswoman. “We have a dedicated local-sourcing team in produce and have been working on this for five years. We are really glad to see this hard work recognised.”

Morrisons contested the claim that its promotional efforts to shoppers on UK produce are weak. “We actively communicate to customers products that are in season, positively promoting seasonal produce through our advertising, PR and in-store point-of-sale materials,” a spokeswoman told FPJ.

“Recent examples include strawberries and raspberries from Tayside and pod peas and broad beans from Somerset. We have worked to extend the British growing season for certain produce so some varieties remain in season longer,” she added.

The NCC said that Tesco had “room for improvement”, sourcing 61 per cent of its vegetables from the UK in season, but with no noticeable signposting of seasonal produce.

“Food is the average household’s number one contributor to climate change, responsible for nearly a third of our climate impact,” the report states. Jenney said this is misleading. “It does not clarify the impact of fresh produce alone, but would lead the reader to that conclusion, which is incorrect,” he claimed.

The report also mentions finding various air-freighted lines in stores: US apples in Morrisons, carrots from Egypt and organic strawberries from New Zealand in Waitrose. “The products mentioned, which are imported by airfreight, are often niche products of modest volumes. Often these products are transported on scheduled passenger airlines,” said Jenney. He also indicated that of total food imports into the UK, fresh produce represents less than 15 per cent, although it is a major focus of this report.

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