Local sourcing grows in appeal to caterers

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High-profile campaigns like British Food Fortnight (BFF), which concludes this month, are forcing a sea-change in demand from traditionally...

High-profile campaigns like British Food Fortnight (BFF), which concludes this month, are forcing a sea-change in demand from traditionally large-volume, low-cost caterers.

Foodservice giant Brakes has just launched a Best of British web service for customers to locate local products. The company said it had introduced more than a dozen UK lines to support BFF, including an own-brand toad-in-the-hole made by its ready-meals division, Creative Kitchen, in Flint, Clwyd.

“British produce adds value to menus and justifies its higher price,” said a spokesman. “By value, British food now represents nearly three-quarters of what we buy.”

He said that Brakes’ own-label range of more than 3,000 products was made increasingly from home-produced ingredients.

BFF organiser Alexia Robinson said that catering firm Aramark had reported as much as a 7% uplift in sales after changing to an all-British menu in some of its clients’ staff restaurants. “Caterers who respond will flourish: the others won’t.”

The promotion, which runs from September 22 to October 7, and involves retailers, foodservice outlets and caterers, boosted retail sales of British produce by 34% last year, said BFF. A total of 84% of the lines introduced during the event had been retained.

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