How UK supermarkets can do more to help us to Buy British - as analysis shows 'customers struggle to clearly identify UK groceries'
Supermarkets must to do more to help customers buy fruit and vegetables from this country online, campaigners say.
Stores including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Aldi and Ocado agreed to add 'Buy British' tabs to their websites two months ago.
But customers still struggle to clearly identify British groceries while shopping for food online, research by the Mail reveals.
A 'Best of British Multi Buy' section on Waitrose's website, for example, included a pack of strawberries for £3.10 but 'origin information' revealed a list of six countries – the UK, Morocco, Spain, Netherlands, Egypt and Jordan.
On the Sainsbury's site, a 'Best of British' section includes just 11 fruits and vegetables.
Stores including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Aldi and Ocado agreed to add 'Buy British' tabs to their websites two months ago
A 'Best of British Multi Buy' section on Waitrose's website, for example, included a pack of strawberries for £3.10 but 'origin information' revealed a list of six countries – the UK, Morocco, Spain , Netherlands , Egypt and Jordan
On the Sainsbury's site, a 'Best of British' section includes just 11 fruits and vegetables
But more items such as mushrooms and apples that are grown in the UK or Ireland were not listed in the section.
Some products such as nectarines and plums do not have a country of origin listed at all.
It was similarly challenging to clarify the country of origin for a range of products at other stores.
Independent consumer champion Martyn James said: 'As this research demonstrates, it's very difficult to source and purchase home-grown or cultivated British goods – or identify goods from other countries that you might want to support or even boycott.
'We need clear rules to help us identify where the food we consume comes from.'
Independent consumer champion Martyn James said: 'As this research demonstrates, it's very difficult to source and purchase home-grown or cultivated British goods – or identify goods from other countries that you might want to support or even boycott. We need clear rules to help us identify where the food we consume comes from.'
Ocado, Tesco, Asda and Aldi all reiterated their commitment to selling British produce
Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said: 'You can be certain where the retailer is silent on the origin of the food that it is definitely not British but they don't really want you to realise.'
Waitrose said: 'When in season, we aim to source as much produce as possible from British growers, and some products are British all year round.'
Sainsbury's said: 'British sourcing is a key priority for us and we always aim to update our website as quickly as possible to ensure customers have full visibility of the available local produce.'
Ocado, Tesco, Asda and Aldi all reiterated their commitment to selling British produce.
