“Where” is one of the 7 big questions of business success which helps to differentiate one business from another but it seems that it is being abused by some food producers.
It usually refers to where you are based which may pass on convenience advantages but it can also be a mark of quality. Think German cars, Swiss watches and French wine.
More than 30 per cent of food products claimed to be local, either weren’t local or couldn’t be proven to be local according to a Local Government Regulation investigation.
It found Somerset butter from Scotland, Welsh lamb from New Zealand and Devon ham from Denmark.
Full inspections revealed that at least 18 per cent of the claims were undoubtedly false with a further 14 per cent unable to be confirmed and therefore assumed false.
It seems that part of the problem is that there is no agreed definition of what local means so the local beef you see in restaurants or supermarkets could have come from much further away than you think.
