According to the experts, more and more consumers want and are willing to pay more for Locally Sourced Produce.
The overwhelming bent of news in the trade and national press suggests that consumers want to buy locally sourced produce. We are all aware of the threat of climate change and that sending a box of apples half way around the world when they grow in the next county seems a ridiculous additional contribution to green house gas pollution.
The independent sector is very well placed to take advantage of this. You have an ability to be flexible that the multiples cannot emulate. In fact, their overhead in sourcing locally is almost exactly the same as yours, removing any advantage they may have over you.
But where do you get it from? Well there are plenty of internet resources and a great place to start is http://www.regionalfoodanddrink.co.uk. They list on their links page amongst other things a whole load of regional food groups. These are organisations set up to market and promote their members' goods. IB.N have no doubt that they will be interested in hearing from you.
However, just sourcing stuff locally will not make any difference, you will have to shout about it. Let your customers know what you are doing. Make sure they realise that they will not be able to get the same stuff at the supermarket and they will realise for themselves that they are too busy to go and find a
farmer's market or farm store to get the same range. The usual applies, leaflets, PoS etc.
Some other links...
If you are using a local supplier and believe that they are the sort of organisation that other independent retailers should be using, please tell them about us and give us their details.
Just because they're small doesn't mean they should be difficult to deal with!
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