A campaign for a ‘Buy British’ section on supermarkets’ online stores supported by Peter Gibson MP has first major success as Morrisons launch 'British' section online.
In August 2023 Peter Gibson MP, Member of Parliament for Darlington and 120 other cross-Party MPs signed an open letter calling on supermarkets to highlight the very best of British produce by implementing a ‘Buy British’ section online.
The letter, written by Dr Luke Evans MP, stated ‘Our ask is simple, create a tab that collates produce from farmers,’ citing consumer choice, environmental benefits and support for farmers as reasons to make the change.
Now, Morrisons Chief Executive Rami Baitiéh has written to Dr Luke Evans MP to “confirm that we have implemented a ‘British’ section to morrisons.com which enables customers to quickly navigate to British produce” such as meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products.
This new section of the website, which groups together key British lines, can be found via the ‘Shop Groceries’ drop down menu on the morrisons.com homepage, with Morrisons saying they “intend to continue developing this section of the website and highlight new lines as they come into season and customer focus.”
Since writing the open letter over 27,000 people have signed a National Farmers Union (NFU) petition in support of a ‘Buy British’ section online and on Back British Farming Day, September 13th, the Government endorsed the campaign and called for industry-led action by supermarkets.
Peter Gibson MP, Member of Parliament for Darlington, said “I applaud Morrisons for their leadership on this campaign and putting our farmer’s interests first.
“The reaction to this campaign has been overwhelmingly positive, with food producers across the United Kingdom supporting the call and consumers asking why supermarkets weren’t doing it already.
“I trust other supermarkets will implement the ‘Buy British’ section soon.”
Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth, said “I’m delighted that Morrisons have implemented a ‘British’ section on their online store.
“I’m so pleased to see Morrisons step up and make this small but meaningful change. The ball is now firmly in the other supermarkets court, let's see what they do.
“The aim for the ‘Buy British’ section was simple – to make it easier for consumers to buy homegrown produce and support our nation’s farmers. Morrisons have rightly recognised the importance of supporting our food growers and producers by putting the new ‘British’ section at the top of their webpage.”
Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, said “Our farmers produce simply the best food in the world and it’s great for shoppers to have clear information about the choice to buy British and opt for high quality and exemplary animal welfare standards.
"Supermarkets do a huge amount to promote great British food and it is good news they are now finding innovative ways to make it easier to pick British and to back our farmers.”
Therese Coffey, former Farming Secretary, said “Well done to Morrisons Supermarkets for responding so positively to Dr Luke Evans’ excellent campaign for clearer signposting to British produce for customers who shop online, which I was pleased to support when I was Environment Secretary.
“Their new British section of morrisons.com is great news for British farmers and I’m sure consumers will support it. I hope other supermarkets will follow.”
Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers Union, said “It’s great to see Morrison’s launching a ‘British’ section online to signpost shoppers to British produce – something we have been asking retailers to commit to since 2016. I’d like to thank Dr Luke Evans MP for his tremendous support in helping to achieve it.
“We know from our own independent survey that 86% of the public want to buy more British food and this simple change with an online button will help shoppers just do that. I hope today’s news will pave the way for other supermarkets to follow suit.”
