Royal Welsh Show: Farmers call for food labelling shake-up
©Richard Stanton
Welsh farmers claim supermarkets are blocking growth in sales of their products through poor labelling and unimaginative shelf displays.
At the Royal Welsh Show, NFU Cymru hired its own industrial-size fridge to show the retailers how it thought food produced in Wales should be packaged and displayed.
The union said it was so “fed up’’ with advising the supermarkets how to promote and stock Welsh products that it set out to prove that it could be done.
See also: Defra wants better labelling on meat and dairy products
A selection of Welsh beef and lamb, and also dairy products, all well packaged and clearly labelled and sourced from each of the major retailers was assembled and displayed on the NFU Cymru stand.
Farmers visiting the stand welcomed the move and said supermarkets could do so much more to flag up Welsh produce.
©Tim Scrivener
“There is an aisle for Polish food in our local supermarket, why can’t they do the same with Welsh food?
“We produce enough different foods in Wales for that to happen,’’ said livestock producer, Guto Davies, of Betws y Coed.
Beef and sheep farmer Hefin Jones, who also farms at Betws y Coed, believed consumers were more aware than ever on how important food production was to rural communities.
“There is support for us out there but if the supermarkets don’t clearly label our food people don’t know what they are buying.’’
John Davies, the union’s deputy president, said the initiative was intended to prove a point.
“We’re saying, come on supermarkets, stop intermingling imported meats with our home-grown produce.
“Really start listening to your consumers who say they are prepared to pay more to support Welsh farmers, in particular with milk.
“Help your customers find the good-quality Welsh produce in your store – don’t hide it.”