There has never been a better time to be in the business of producing quality, fresh, seasonal, healthy British food. This is not to dismiss the increasingly tiresome regulations and price squeezes – these continue to chip away mercilessly at the livelihood and morale of producers. But setting these aside and looking at the consumer environment, opportunities abound.

The high profile crisis in child nutrition and renewed interest in seasonality and provenance that has been stimulated by celebrity chefs and food features in the media means it is a good time to be a producer of quality food and farmers have much to be proud of.

Every national newspaper now carries a special food section; every weekend there is a food festival in some part of the country; VisitBritain, the government’s tourism body, is for the first time marketing Britain as a food and drink destination; and increasingly producers are taking their place as heros alongside celebrity chefs.

The statistics speak for themselves.

• The regional food and drink market is growing at 5% year on year.
• 70% of British consumers want to buy local and regional foods; 49% - that is every second person you pass in the street – want to buy more than they do now (IGD 2005).
• The ‘Which Good Food Guide 2006’ acclaims ‘Food Britannia’ and states: “More than ever before, chefs are using local and seasonal produce and boasting about it.”
• MINTEL’s 2005 British lifestyles report notes that “consumers are adopting a more traditional approach to grocery shopping”.
• Even Tesco’s recent review of the market place found that only 16% of customers are motivated by lowest price. 84% now buy on a combination of price and quality.

This last statistic is the most encouraging. For too long, retailers’ and caterers’ defence against sourcing British food has been that their consumers are only interested in price. Well this isclearly no longer the case.People want value and value is not just about price. People do not want the cheapest food, but the best quality food they can afford.And what are the qualities they value? Increasingly they are safe, healthy, local, seasonal, regionally-distinct, high standards of animal welfare and visible traceability back to the producer.

The values the new consumer cares about are all distinctive features of British food. Hence there is a tremendous opportunity for Britain’s food producers.

IGD concluded that currently only 18% of consumers actively seek out British food.A dismal statistic, but if only 18% are buying it yet 70% (see earlier statistic) want to buy it we know that there is the potential for growing our customer base by 52%. This translates to a fabulous opportunity for our industry.

About time too. In our wonderfully understated British-way we have for too long been reticent and almost apologetic about our food. The message was defensive post-BSE: ‘Buy British food; it is safe really’; and charitable post-FMD: ‘Buy British food; protect our farmers’. Enough about protection; the time has come for promotion. Buy British food because it is great – because it is fresh, tasty and nutritious and it meets the most stringent health and animal welfare standards.

It would be nonsensical to assert that British food per se is automatically better than that of another country; each product needs to be compared on its own merits. But what is irrefutable is that locally-produced, fresh food that has not travelled thousands of miles to reach our plates tastes better and is more nutritious. If it reflects the heritage and culture of the area within which it is produced, even better.

This is what the public wants. British Food Fortnight is nurturing the environment within which it can be promoted. And those farmers and producers that can tap into this will not only survive, they will flourish.

So let’s unite and give the customer a positive reason to buy British, let’s explain why it is worth them paying a premium for those values they hold dear and let’s work together to expand our customer base. Most of all, during this Autumn’s national food celebrations, let’s boast about what we do.