Jayne Dowle: Revolution is brewing in the supermarket aisles

Booth, the fifth generation of the family to run the 166-year-old firm with strong roots in North Yorkshire, likens the seismic change in the supermarket sector to the struggles experienced by the weavers when mechanisation was introduced in the early 19th century. Just as then, some will prosper and some will be left behind. Isn’t it exciting to be part of it all? No? Not convinced?

Well, the next time you’re stuck in a check-out queue wondering if you’re going to have to re-mortgage the house to pay for the contents of your trolley, have a think.

I’m already fighting by the side of Mr Booth. I haven’t done a “big” supermarket shop since before Christmas. Don’t worry, my family and the cat aren’t starving or begging food from the neighbours. I’ve just made a conscious effort to seek out alternatives. It wasn’t just the shock of the three- figure bill which made me wince. It was a determination to source cheaper, convenient and local alternatives. And also, I must admit, total frustration at the relentless push to persuade us to spend more money than we have. The whole process had become exhausting, in all ways.

So, I now pop into the local branch of Asda or Aldi whenever I can fit it in to my daily commitments. For basics, the prices are the same as the big supermarkets in town. And, it’s an added bonus that the staff say hello and fall over themselves to help. I pick up bread from the bakery in the village at the same time, stock up on a big tray of eggs and potatoes at £8 a sack from the market gardener up the road. There’s nowhere better to find meat and fruit and veg and cakes and treats than Barnsley market. And not forgetting the cat. His food now comes in bulk from a wholesaler, saving me pounds every month. Shunning the supermarket and shopping like this takes a bit of organisation and a permanent list in my handbag, but it’s worth it for convenience, quality and the keenest prices.

As Mr Booth says, we consumers are voting with our feet and our purses. We are heartily sick of being manipulated by the big boys, who devote more time to ripping us off than serving us.

If there was a Booth’s in my part of Yorkshire, I would be calling in for its renowned bread and to check out the offers on wine. The chairman has come under some fire for concentrating his business in more affluent areas of the North – there are 29 outlets in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria.

The chances of a branch opening in Barnsley any time soon are probably pretty slim. However, that’s not to say that we don’t recognise quality when we see it. If the queues at my local farm shop-cum-deli-cum-restaurant are anything to go by, local people are prepared to pay that little bit extra for quality.

And savvy retailers respond. Not only by offering user-friendly online ordering to support what’s available in stores, but by opening up channels for local butchers, bakers and pork pie-makers.

Booths has launched a new web portal for potential suppliers to contact its buyers with potential products. And it hosts Dragons’ Den-style sessions to encourage new producers to present their wares.

Because it’s small, it can evolve quickly and respond fast to changing tastes and trends. This is reflected in the response from the shopping public. While the likes of Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s were hit hard by the impact of discount chains such as Aldi and Lidl this Christmas, Booth’s reported its best festive trading season ever. Like-for-like sales were up by six per cent.

The widespread “structural change” the company chairman talks about is already turning the tide in favour of the consumer. No wonder the bosses of the big supermarkets are going to ever-more desperate measures to tempt us back. They face an uphill task. If the recession did one thing for us consumers, it taught us to shop around. There’s no turning back the tide now.

I’ve already signed up to Mr Booth’s cause. I’ll fight alongside him at the check-out. I’ll man the barricades at the trolley bay. I’ll be there with my sack of potatoes and tray of eggs, ready to use them in retaliation if called to arms.

Two hundred years ago Yorkshire led the way in a revolution which was to change the world. In my own small way, I’m proud to be part of another one.