Out-of-town stores ‘pose threat to survival of local food shops’

Out-of-town food stores have been particularly damaging to local food and the charity’s report today points towards a collapse in traditional specialist food stores, such as butchers and greengrocers, around the country.

There were around 120,000 specialist food stores in the 1950s, compared with 18,000 at the end of the last decade. Now there are more than five times as many supermarkets in the UK as there were 20 years ago.

The CPRE says that in the Sheffield postcode alone there are 104 food outlets owned by supermarkets, compared with 16 in 2004.

It says supermarkets can and often do draw shoppers into town centres and support its overall vibrancy and attractiveness, provided they are appropriately sized and located. But large scale stores on the edge or outside do the opposite and it highlights one such superstore in Hexham in Northumbria which accounts for 45 per cent of all shopping but stocks just seven local products.

It wants supermarket to set “demanding targets” for stocking and selling local food.

Graeme Willis, food policy advisor, said: “Our research shows the presence of supermarkets is not an insurmountable obstacle to vibrant local food networks – but their number, scale and location is critical.

“Moderately sized supermarkets, well- located and well-connected with town centres, can draw shoppers and support a centre’s overall vibrancy and attractiveness. However, if local food networks are to thrive, they need sustained support from individuals, the community, business and policy-makers locally and nationally.”

Mr Willis highlighted Otley as an example of an area where a local food network is thriving alongside a supermarket, praising the quality of its farmers’ market. It also pointed towards the example of Anthony Middlemiss, owner of Middlemiss butchers in Otley, as a businesses which has successfully managed to grow despite the supermarket industry.

Mr Middlemiss, the fifth generation of his family to run the shop which has been based in the town for more than 130 years, told the Yorkshire Post he did not see the supermarket industry as a threat.

“We sell a great local product from great local farmers. We can beat the supermarket on quality and on price.

“It is a myth to say that supermarkets are cheaper, often they are a lot more expensive. Supermarkets spend a fortune on marketing but we have great customers who keep coming back.”

Local food is not just restricted to rural areas and market towns. Researchers identified at least around 4,000 community managed allotments, and 200 new city farms in development around England.

The report highlights the success of Heeley City Farm in Sheffield which now supplies organic food to local shops and farmers markets.

Andrew Opie, Food Director with the British Retail Consortium which speaks for the supermarket industry, said: “Local food isn’t automatically better for the environment – some parts of the country offer better growing conditions than others and it’s more sustainable to produce crops where they will naturally thrive. In addition, consumers don’t want to be deprived of apples, for example, purely because their local climate is better suited to growing potatoes.

“People are free to choose where they buy their food. The success of any retailer is down to their ability to provide the right goods at the right price.”