Asda is the eighth supermarket to join the campaign by adding a area to its online grocery section.
Other supermarkets who have taken up the call to back Britain鈥檚 farmers include:
- 奥补颈迟谤辞蝉别鈥檚
- The Co-op鈥檚
- 厂补颈苍蝉产耻谤测鈥檚
- 惭辞谤谤颈蝉辞苍蝉鈥� 听
- Aldi's 听category
- Ocado Retail's 听
- 罢别蝉肠辞鈥檚 page
Asda鈥檚 decision follows a long-standing NFU ask dating back to 2016.
The campaign has also been supported by parliamentarians, with Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans penning a letter to eight chief executives of Britain鈥檚 major supermarkets, asking for a filter which would direct shoppers to homegrown food to help boost the economy and cut the UK鈥檚 carbon footprint.
The letter received 126 signatures from MPs across the House.
Simple but effective change
NFU Deputy President David Exwood said: 鈥淚t is excellent to see that all eight major British supermarkets have added a 鈥榖uy British鈥� button to their websites following our campaign.
鈥淲e know from our independent research that the public want to buy more British food from retailers.
鈥淭hese changes will make it easier for shoppers to do just that when shopping online. Choosing to buy British is an endorsement of the great produce reared and grown by our farmers and growers and helps contribute towards the UK economy.
鈥�We know from our own independent research that the public wants to buy more British food from retailers.鈥�
NFU Deputy President David Exwood
鈥淚鈥檇 like to particularly thank Dr Luke Evans MP, for all his work calling on supermarkets to introduce a 鈥榖uy British tab鈥�, gaining cross-party parliamentary support, and writing an open letter to the eight supermarket chief executives.鈥�
Campaign support
Alongside 126 MPs, the NFU鈥檚 campaign has also attracted the support of more than 35,000 members of the public.
Signatories to Dr Evans鈥� letter included chair of the Environmental Audit Committee Philip Dunne MP, Climate Minister Graham Stuart and members of the Commons Efra Committee.
The letter was signed by representatives from all the main political parties in England and Wales. It said that the 鈥渟mall change鈥� would give 鈥渃ustomers greater autonomy over their food choices鈥� and could boost seasonal eating.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak endorsed the campaign and called for industry-led action: 鈥淲e will continue to encourage all retailers to do all they can to showcase the incredible food produced right here, in the United Kingdom鈥�.
Th茅r猫se Coffey announced her support for the campaign during the 2023 Back British Farming Day, as did the now Shadow Defra Secretary Steve Barclay in January 2024. Former Defra Secretary Theresa Villiers was also a signatory on MP Dr Luke Evans鈥� letter.
The Conservative Environment Network also backed the NFUs campaign.
The campaign featured in the NFU鈥檚 British Food: Leading the Way report in 2021.
Online food labelling – the story so far
Asda is final supermarket to join the campaign
Asda is the eighth supermarket to join the campaign by adding a area to its online grocery section.
Tesco is seventh retailer to join the campaign
Tesco is the latest national supermarket to join the campaign by launching a 鈥楤est of British鈥� section to its website 鈥� visit their听听page.
Tesco's Chief Commercial officer, Ashwin Prasad said: 鈥淪upporting British farmers, growers and suppliers remains critical to ensuring we have a robust food industry here in the UK, and we count ourselves as proud champions of British agriculture, striving to source produce from the UK wherever possible.鈥澨�
鈥淥ur customers share our love for British produce, and we want to do all we can to make it as easy to find as possible, no matter how they shop with us, so we鈥檙e thrilled to be launching our Best of British page on our groceries website, bringing together over 500 quality, affordable British products to choose from.鈥澨�
Waitrose and the Co-op are latest to join the campaign
Waitrose and the Co-op have launched 'Best of British' sections online, becoming the latest national supermarkets to back Britain's farmers.
Co-op Propositions Director Adele Balmforth said: 鈥淎s a member-owned organisation, we know food provenance really matters to our member owners, and we continue our longstanding support for British farmers, growers and local suppliers, championing home-grown produce, protein and products.鈥�
Ms Balmforth added that the will make it easier for customers to buy British and support local livelihoods.
Meanwhile Waitrose has also added a 鈥楤est of British鈥� section to , which a spokesperson said the supermarket would look to expand if it proved successful with customers.
Ocado Retail launches Best of British aisle
Ocado's new aisle showcases more than 800 British products including fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy products.
Amit Chitnis, Chief Commercial Officer at Ocado Retail, said: 鈥淥ur Best of British aisle comes in response to rising demand from our customers for more homegrown produce.
鈥淲here we can, we will always try to source locally as our first choice whenever possible. So, we鈥檙e proud to have gathered a range of over 800 quality products that are British all year round in an easy-to-shop aisle on site spanning fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy.鈥�
Sainsbury's reveals 'Best of British' page
Sainsbury's new page spotlights more than 450 100% British sourced grocery products and also provides a range of recipes using British products.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive Officer at 厂补颈苍蝉产耻谤测鈥檚, said: 鈥淢any of our customers want to support British suppliers and make more conscious choices when doing their food shop, and our new Buy British webpage helps them to do just that through a curation of over 450 quality, 100% locally sourced products.
鈥淲e recognise the pressures that British farmers are facing and the importance of supporting them to maintain a resilient UK food system for the long term. Our relationships with farmers and suppliers are incredibly important to us and we remain committed to sourcing British as much as we can, now and in the future.鈥�
Aldi launches 'Best of British' online section
Aldi Chief Executive Giles Hurley wrote to Dr Luke Evans MP to confirm the implementation of 鈥渁 standalone 鈥楤est of British鈥� category on our website to showcase our incredible British products鈥�.
First supermarket responds to the call for a 'Buy British' section
Morrisons are the first supermarket to implement the 鈥楤uy British鈥� section online in response to Dr Evans鈥� open letter.
Morrisons Chief Executive Rami Baiti茅h said: 鈥淎s a longstanding supporter of British farming, we are delighted to make this change to our website and hope that it leads to more British products in our customers鈥� baskets.鈥�
Government endorses Buy British option
At the NFU's Back British Farming day reception, Th茅r猫se Coffey announced support for a 鈥榖uy British button鈥� for online supermarket shopping.
The news comes as more than 27,000 members of the public add their names to the NFU's call asking whether it's a good idea to have a 'Buy British' button on supermarket online shopping sites.
Dr Luke Evans MP takes the lead
皇家华人briefed Dr Luke Evans about online labelling. The campaign has since gathered more than 120 signatories.听
NFU launches British Food: Leading the Way report
In our British Food: Leading the Way report NFU President Minette Batters called for 鈥渁n improved way for customers to choose the origin of product when shopping online鈥� 鈥� such as a 'Buy British' button or filter for online food purchases.
During February 2022, we also launched our British Farming: A Blueprint for the Future report where we called on the government to 鈥渟upport for an improved way for customers to choose the origin of product when shopping online 鈥� such as a 鈥淏uy British鈥� button or filter for online food purchases鈥�.
MPs are briefed
皇家华人briefed MPs on online shopping and labelling and asked for the same level of origin labelling on products online as can be found in-store.
YouGov survey reveals public support for more labelling information online
皇家华人commissioned a survey by YouGov that revealed 81% of UK adults think that online food retailers should provide the same amount of information about the product鈥檚 country of origin on the website as there is on the food packaging in store.
Other key findings include:
- Around 64% said they would find it helpful to have the option to view British online produce when sopping online
- Most consider the 'Country of Origin' labelling information to be clear on certain products 鈥� namely milk, cheese and eggs 鈥� but find it less clear when displayed for processed products
- 64% said they look out for British produce when shopping
Buy British filter debated in Westminster
There was a where Rebecca Pow echoed our asks to Defra Minister George Eustice: 鈥淐ould consideration be given to a button to press when doing an online shop to enable people to choose from just British produce?"
George Eustice responded: 鈥淲e are discussing that with the National Farmers Union.鈥�
MPs kick off discussions
皇家华人briefed MPs on online labelling and made recommendations including a filter which would give online customers the ability to select British through a button.
The campaign begins
皇家华人launches an online labelling campaign to allow shoppers to be able to identify British food more easily when doing their online food shop.听
