A Macclesfield man was angered to find that his local Tesco store did not have any British apples for sale, and is campaigning for more locally sourced produce in shops.
Leo Deen, 50, reportedly checked over 20 different brands of apples in the Tesco on Hibel Road in Macclesfield for a home-grown apple brand, before resorting to ask a member of staff. The staff member also couldn’t find any, and had to admit they didn’t have any in store.
The fruit that was on sale had been shipped there from miles away, and included produce from Chile, New Zealand and North America.
“When I couldn’t find an English apple I had to check twice… Supermarkets should be buying local or at least from the same country and supporting British farmers, not flying in apples from the other side of the world during peak apple season in this country,” Mr Deen said.
Food4Macc is a local campaign group that strives to get more local produce into the supermarkets. Colin Townend, representing Food4Macc said: “We understand the economic drivers behind the supermarkets buying policies, but in the same way as organic food was a speciality product a few years ago but now enjoys its own sections in supermarkets, we would like to see the supermarkets having ‘local produce’ sections, exploiting the loyalty to local producers that undoubtedly exists.”
Recent reports have shown that the price war is taking its toll on the big supermarkets. Although it is arguably wrong for the superstores to not stock local food, the drive to get it cheaply from abroad is understandable.
The mayor of Macclesfield, Janet Jackson, found in a survey that other superstores, including Aldi and Sainsbury’s, stock at least one locally sourced brand of apples. She commented: “I would hope that supermarkets would, when such produce is in season in Britain, make sure that home-grown fruit is given priority. Focus on British fruit to cut down on the air miles.”
