NSA emphasises need to remember the importance of domestic promotion
1st July 2019
The National Sheep Association (NSA) is encouraging policy makers to give equal attention to the security and development of our domestic market as to proposed export markets when promoting British produce, following the release of the Efra committees ‘Brand Britain: Promoting and Marketing British food and drink’ report.
Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive, comments: “This report is welcome and its absolutely vital to channel sufficient resources into promoting our world class produce across the globe. However, our belief is that this needs to be done alongside an equal recognition of the importance of our own markets here in Britain. We need a wide range of different market options and this helps provide some resilience against volatility. Our domestic market still accounts for the lion share of our production. It is the foundation of our marketplace and we should be working to make sure it is not lost.”
NSA is concerned Government policy will increasingly favour importing cheaper, lower quality food as consumer trends show British shoppers favour cheaper price tags. Mr Stocker continues: “While investment in overseas trade is essential to support seasonal variations and carcase balance our domestic market must be recognised as being of equal importance and in need of equal and proportionate level of investment. If we are to get greater public backing for what we do then it’s important that our products, and the standards they are produced to, are valued here. I firmly believe consumers would be more likely to buy British if they were better informed of the higher standards behind our food production.
“A cheap import policy for food is not a responsible approach and does not provide adequate food security for the future. There is absolutely no sense in being concerned about the environment, animal welfare and species loss here and then investing in environmental damage and poor welfare in other countries across the world.”
