Holiday boost for local food shops

Dec 4 2007 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

CHRISTMAS definitely comes but once a year for many regional food producers, despite campaigns encouraging us to buy our weekly groceries locally.

Deloitte reckon more of us will turn to farm shops and independent stores rather than relying solely on the big retailers over Christmas. And Norton butcher Martin Blackwell agrees.

“We see a lot of new faces at Christmas. You smile and say thank you very much for coming, even if it is only once a year!” he said.

But consumer trends are changing and traditional food outlets that respond to them are likely to hang on to customers. Of the 1,500 locally grown Christmas turkeys sold this year through Blackwells, more than 300 will be boned and rolled and sold as premium, convenience roasts in direct competition to larger retailers like Sainsbury’s, where Christmas food spending has already run into billions by mid-November.

“Total expenditure on food and drink is up 9% on 2006. This is partly driven by consumers trading up and indulging themselves with premium, provenance and fair trade products,” said Deloitte’s Paul Feechan.

“The biggest challenge for retailers is to meet the growing demand for local products. To have a local offering retailers need to have all their ducks in a row when it comes to sourcing and suppliers. Those that manage to make it work will be able to tap into a growing trend.”