Asda may have lost out in its attempt to buy the Safeway chain, but the American-owned company is continuing to stress its credentials as a supporter of the British food industry.
Asda said that sales of British products in its stores across England, Scotland and Wales had increased dramatically in the five months following a high profile promotional campaign launched in April as part of a £1.3 million investment in new product development, in-store promotions and labelling.
The supermarket's Buy British campaign has already seen 36 new British products hit the shelves and sales of British meat, dairy and produce lines have increased by an average of 5 per cent throughout its chain of 263 stores since the launch.
The success of the Buy British promotion has now prompted Asda to expand the scheme, with a second wave of activity aimed at increasing sales further and educating customers about where their food comes from. By the end of 2003, a further 20 British products will be launched in the supermarket's stores, including such delicacies as cheddar with ginger and whisky, Extra Special bacon loin steaks with a three-mustard glaze, and Scottish salmon with Champagne.
This is in line with Asda's pledge, made at the launch of the Buy British campaign in April, to introduce 50 new British products during 2003. Some 36 new products have been launched to date, including stilton with strawberries and Champagne, hot and spicy British chicken goujons, British pork steaks with Thai style butter and Extra Special Caerphilly.
But the activity is not all at the finished product, added-value end of the market. Asda also claims to be doing its bit for British produce growers, stopping carrot imports and extending the British carrot season to 52 weeks, as well as extending the new and salad potato season by 10 weeks
The chain has also launched a promotional and sampling programme in all its stores, as a result of which sales of iceberg lettuces have increased by 53 per cent and sales of British sweet plum tomatoes have risen by 29 per cent
Asda said that it was also stressing the regional diversity of the British Isles with its campaign. For example, local Ayrshire potatoes are now available in all 34 Scottish stores, while local strawberries are available in 43 stores across Britain.
It is also making it easier for consumers to tell whether the products they are buying are British or not. For example, all Asda-branded beef, lamb, pork and chicken products now clearly carry the British flag and the word 'British' in the title of the product, while Asda cream products have also been relabelled.
In addition, the Asda Smartprice range of products will be completely relabelled by the end of 2003 removing references to the decidedly vague 'product of EU' and replacing them with the actual country of origin.
Dr Chris Brown, Asda's head of agriculture, said: "The success of our Buy British campaign demonstrates what can be achieved by working together. We have managed to overcome farmers' concerns about clear labelling, and we have improved the way that we promote British products in our stores. As a result we have sold considerably more home-grown produce which is great news for our farming suppliers and the industry as a whole."
The campaign also has the support of the National Farmers Union in the UK. Sir Ben Gill, NFU president, said: "This campaign demonstrates that consumers will support British products if they are labelled clearly and actively promoted in-store. It is now much easier for Asda customers to identify which products are home-grown and therefore easier for them to back British farmers."