‘Decline’ in support for Scottish produce in supermarkets

NFU Scotland’s latest ShelfWatch results reveal a decline in the availability of Scottish-branded produce across major supermarkets, with Aldi showing the biggest drop in support since the last quarter.

Phase 3 of NFU Scotland’s ShelfWatch initiative, conducted in late autumn, involved an independent firm visiting 73 stores over 48 hours across mainland Scotland to monitor the availability of Scottish produce in major retailers.

See also: Scottish government pledges £660m to support farmers

The audit focused on own-brand beef, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs, vegetables, soft fruit, and dairy products from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Lidl and Aldi.

More than 15,000 products were assessed.

The results show that almost all retailers reduced their offering of Scottish own-brand products compared to the previous quarter, except for Lidl.

Aldi experienced the largest decline in Scottish produce availability, with a 10% drop.

Nevertheless, Aldi still remained the top performer, with 35% of its own-brand products showing Scottish availability, followed by Co-op at 25% and M&S at 18%.

NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy expressed disappointment in the results, noting that while there were some positive examples, retailers have yet to fully embrace Scottish sourcing.

“These latest results are disappointing, and we have yet to see the increased support for locally produced produce that we hoped for,” he said.

British products

In terms of overall commitment to British own-brand products, Co-op led the way with 87%, followed by M&S and Morrisons.

However, the availability of Scottish pork and chicken remained low, and Scottish vegetables and potatoes were often labelled as UK produce, rather than specifically Scottish.

“ShelfWatch identifies some of the labelling issues that we have, consumers deserve to know where their food comes from,” said Mr Kennedy.

“There are eggs coming in at the moment that have virtually no labelling at all and that needs to stop.” 

Since ShelfWatch began in January 2024, the union has met with retailers to discuss and encourage greater support for Scottish food.

Mr Kennedy emphasised that consumer research commissioned by NFU Scotland highlighted a strong demand for Scottish-branded products, calling it “a win-win for our farmers and retailers”.

The ShelfWatch project will continue monitoring and improving dialogue with retailers, aiming to boost Scottish produce availability nationwide.

The results of the fourth audit phase will be released in January 2025.