Kitemark launch at farm summit

29 March 2000



Kitemark launch at farm summit

By FWi staff

TONY BLAIR will launch a new 2m kitemark to promote British food at the Downing Street summit with farmers leaders on Thursday (30 March).

The assurance mark, which was developed by the National Farmers Union, will be used on food sold in the shops and supermarkets within weeks.

Ben Gill, NFU President, said the kitemark would clearly identify a range of top-quality British farm produce, including meat, fruit and vegetables.

It is the first time a single logo has been used to identify farm-assured British produce, Mr Gill told a conference in London on the eve of the launch.

It will “guarantee to consumers that the food they are buying is of the highest quality and produced to exacting environmental and animal welfare standards.”

He added: “When its distinctive mark appears in the shops in just under two months time, we believe it will provide that crucial signpost.

“It will be the farmers promise to consumers that they are buying the best.”

All products will carry the logo will be backed by farm assurance schemes, which guarantee food has been produced to the highest standards, said Mr Gill.

British farmers and growers had listened carefully to what shoppers want while developing the logo, he added.

“This mark will be the culmination of months of work by the NFU and other organisations to try to encapsulate this in a single mark.”

NFU research last autumn found that British people instinctively wanted to buy British food because they believe it to be better quality.

But shoppers thought that home-produced food was hard to find on shop shelves and had difficulty differentiating it from imported produce.