Food firms sign up for Made in Britain campaign

Since it was first launched 12 months ago, the campaign has attracted the support of 864 manufacturers. Of these, 20 are food and foodservice manufacturers, including Falcon foodservice and Freshasia Foods.

A spokeswoman for the campaign, which is being run by the social media agency Umpf, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “We’re looking to take the Made in Britain campaign forwards and raise awareness of it in more sectors – such as food production.”​

Some food industry experts believe the campaign will garner support in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

Julian Wild, food group director of legal firm Rollits, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “The horsemeat scandal has focused consumer awareness on where some of their products are being sourced from. As a result, consumers are more aware that their foodstuffs are being sourced from overseas.”​

Consumer trust​

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “Recent events have shown us just how important it is for consumers to be able to trust the products they buy. ​

“We support initiatives that help shoppers make more informed decisions at the tills. We have urged the European Commission to speed up the publication of its report on Country of Origin Labelling so we can promptly consider its recommendations.”​

“We have a great food industry and farming sector working really hard to produce great food," ​said Richard Werrin, md of Cert ID – a company that provides food safety certification against the British Retail Consortium Global Standard.​

“So, I’d like to see the government putting public money into a British Food Campaign for food, grown, produced, here in Britain, with retailer buy-in to get our industry back on its feet through increased consumer loyalty based on outstanding quality, safety and choice.”​

Boost the economy​

Wild also believed the campaign would help to boost the UK’s struggling economy.

He said: “I’ve never understood why the government hasn’t pushed consumers to buy British in the recession because there’s never been a better opportunity to revive the British campaign. It would be a great opportunity to help British business.​

“Harold Wilson’s campaign ‘I’m backing Britain’ in the sixties was very successful.”​

The agency Umpf said its research revealed that half of UK consumers were “baffled”​ when it came to buying British; two-thirds 67% wanted an official seal of approval to show products made in Britain and 52% thought British brands should bring manufacturing back to the UK.

Following this research, the company launched a national campaign among university design students to create a logo that could be used as standard. More than 864 manufacturers have now signed up to use the logo and numbers are rising on a daily basis, according to Umpf.

Buying British – in numbers​

• 50 – Percentage of UK consumers admit to being “baffled” ​buying British
• 67 – Percentage of consumers who want an official seal of approval for British made products
• 52 – Percentage who thought British brands should bring manufacturing back to the UK.

Source: Umpf