Marks & Spencer, British melons on sale instead of Spanish
M&S fruit expert Bill Davies said: "We have a huge customer following for British melons who have been asking us for weeks when this year's crop will go on sale. We know our customers like to buy British fruit where possible so this is a great way of bringing them this delicious tropical fruit with the added bonus that it is grown in the UK."
M&S wants to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015 and has already pledged to source as much as possible from the UK. Earlier this summer The Daily Telegraph revealed M&S would be stocking the biggest ever commercial crop of home-grown apricots. Supermarket claim the hot Summer sun also helped produce a bumper crop of home-grown plums, raspberries and cherries with some cherries even grown in Laurencekirk, just south of Aberdeen.
Industry figures claim shoppers are increasingly seeking out British food, with the trend led by younger shoppers. A report in June claimed shoppers were one and a half times more likely to "buy British" than they were six yers ago. The Institute of Grocery and Distribution said 78 per cent of shoppers would buy British, against 55 per cent in 2007.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
