Red Tractor Co-op British apples labelled as German origin

Farmers are demanding answers after a packet of apples mislabelled as grown in Germany was found carrying the Red Tractor logo.

An eagle-eyed farmer spotted the Braeburn apples retailing at a Co-op store and he posted the photo on the Farming Forum (TFF).

See also: Non-assured growers should get access to feed mills, says Red Tractor

@RedTractorFood start the year with yet another smash hit ! @coopuk You couldn’t make it up ….. but @RedTractorFood certainly can ! …… (again) https://t.co/JTzKX46G6B pic.twitter.com/HLtzTx8VgJ

— Clive Bailye (@TWBFarms) January 6, 2023

Forum director Clive Bailye said: “This is not the first time this has happened, and it will probably happen again. I suspect this will be blamed on a poor packer somewhere, who is working on a minimum wage who forgot to change the ink in the packaging room.

“I think assurance schemes like Red Tractor should pay farmers a premium and it must reassure consumers. Examples like this don’t do that.”

Red Tractor told Farmers Weekly it takes the incorrect use of its logo very seriously and was conducting a full investigation with both the retailer and supplier.

A spokesperson for Co-op said: “A very small number of cases of apples have been labelled incorrectly, and we are very sorry for any confusion. This product is being withdrawn immediately while the packaging is corrected.”