The campaign for a ‘Buy British’ section on supermarkets’ online stores supported by Selaine Saxby MP sees its second success as Aldi launch ‘Best of British’ section for click and collect shoppers.
The letter, written by Conservative MP, Dr Luke Evans, stated ‘Our ask is simple, create a tab that collates produce from farmers,’ citing consumer choice, environmental benefits and support for farmers as reasons to make the change.
Aldi Chief Executive, Giles Hurley has written to Dr Evans MP to confirm the implementation of “a standalone ‘Best of British’ category on our website to showcase our incredible British products.”
The UK’s fourth largest supermarket’s new dedicated webpage includes a wide selection of over 250 groceries, ranging from meat to dairy products and everyday essentials, and can be found at groceries.aldi.co.uk for click and collect shoppers.
Since Selaine Saxby MP signed the open letter over 30,000 people have signed a National Farmers Union (NFU) petition in support, the Government endorsed the campaign and Morrisons also launched a ‘British’ section online.
Selaine Saxby, MP North Devon, said:
“It is great to see Aldi have made this small but meaningful change, by putting our farmers first and showing support for great British produce in North Devon. This has been one of our priorities since Brexit – to upgrade UK Farming Schemes and support our fantastic farmers in North Devon and across the country.
“The reaction to this campaign so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with food producers across the United Kingdom supporting the call and consumers asking why supermarkets were not doing it already.
"Both Morrisons and Aldi have shown great leadership on this, and I trust that other supermarkets will make the change soon too, so that all shoppers have the choice to buy high quality British produce.”
Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth, said:
“I’m really pleased to see Aldi have reiterated their commitment to support our farmers by making it even easier for consumers to buy British produce online.
“Aldi have rightly recognised the importance of supporting our food growers and producers by putting the new ‘Best of British’ section right at the top of their webpage!
“When I speak to farmers, they say the best thing we can do to support them is buy homegrown food, this is another step in the right direction and I look forward to seeing other supermarkets follow in their footsteps.”
Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, said:
“Our Best of British webpage aims to give our customers the chance to navigate British products more easily whilst supporting the thousands of local suppliers that we work with.
“We are proud to champion so many British suppliers and they are at the heart of our success, allowing us to offer our customers great British quality at the best possible prices.”
Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers Union, said
“It’s fantastic that Aldi is championing British farmers by introducing a ‘Best of British’ section online. Recent data shows that most shoppers want to buy more British food and this simple change will help Aldi customers locate high quality, homegrown food much more easily.
“We now have two major retailers in Aldi and Morrisons adapting their online service to support both their suppliers and customers. Dr Luke Evans has been instrumental in driving this campaign forwards and thanks to his tireless efforts alongside the NFU I hope even more retailers will follow suit.”
ENDS
For more information please contact: Selaine Saxby, [email protected] 01271 327990.
