Two major supermarkets have sparked outrage after failing to support British farmers on their websites.
A campaign to make it easier for Brits to support UK farmers is gathering pace – with many major UK supermarkets adding a “Buy British” section to their websites.
Support so far for the movement includes Waitrose, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Aldi and Ocado which have all answered the call by updating their online presence – but Asda and Tesco have so far snubbed the new policy adopted by their competitors.
The move follows an open letter written by Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans to the chief executives of eight major supermarkets asking for the filter which would direct shoppers to homegrown food in a bid to boost the economy and cut the UK’s carbon footprint.
The letter was was co-signed by 125 cross-party MPs and echoed a long-standing National Farmers’ Union (NFU) ask dating back to 2016.
But Tesco and Asda are dragging their heels – and have been called out in tweet on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by farming website FarmingUK.
The post said: “Only Tesco and Asda are left in declaring their support for a Buy British button!”
Asda declined to comment when asked to respond to the claim by Express.co.uk but did say that on its website customers have always been able to search for British products. Express.co.uk has approached Tesco for comment.
The NFU deputy president David Exwood told Express.co.uk that he urged other retailers to follow the example of others who have backed the campaign.
He told Express.co.uk: “It’s great to see so many supermarkets supporting Dr Luke Evans MP’s fantastic campaign and backing British farmers and growers by adding buy British sections to their websites.
“This will help signpost shoppers to high quality, sustainably produced homegrown produce. We know from our own independent research that the public want to buy more British food from retailers. That’s why we have been championing this important issue since 2016 and we urge other retailers to follow suit.”
It was following repeated calls from the NFU and more than 27,000 members of the public that the former Defra Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey announced her support on Back British Farming Day for signposting customers to ‘buy British’ when they shop online.
