Local suppliers set the standard in food

More than 750 buyers from supermarkets, food service companies and catering suppliers have signed up to the Safe and Local Supplier Approval scheme (SALSA).

The scheme lets buyers know that the food they are buying is safe. Included were retailers Waitrose, Asda, Sainsbury's and 3663.

SALSA, launched in 2007, is an independent guarantee for buyers that the producers have met industry-approved standards of food safety, legality and quality.

Buyers who are signed up to it have access to a database of 341 approved businesses that have met the standards and this number is expected to grow to about 500 in the next 12 months.

Bosses expect a particular surge in buyers and suppliers being recruited when SALSA sets up a stand at this weekend's Speciality and Fine Food Fair – one of the country's leading trade events for local, regional and artisan food and drink.

It is being staged at the London Olympia from tomorrow until Tuesday.

SALSA scheme director Chris Grimes said: "Many regional and national food companies now see local and regional sourcing as a major priority.

"SALSA certification means buyers from these organisations can be confident they are sourcing from a supplier who has demonstrated their capability to meet the food safety standards they require.

"The Speciality and Fine Food Fair is a perfect opportunity to inform more buyers about the scheme and demonstrate to producers how it can transform the size of their potential market."

NFU head of food chain Lee Woodger said: "SALSA represents a quick and cost efficient way for small and micro producers of quality British food to get access to bigger markets in their area or for opportunities further afield such as the Olympics.

"The increasing appetite for British and local food is reflected in the growth of the scheme with more than 300 new buyers registering and many new businesses successfully completing an audit in the last year."

The scheme is a joint venture between the four main trade associations representing the UK food chain – the NFU, Food and Drink Federation, British Hospitality Association and British Retail Consortium.

However it was not all good news for local food producers this week with new figures showing that the cost of producing food is rising faster than the cost at which it is being sold.

Statistics from the Anglia Farmers Agricultural Inflation Index show farmers' profit margins are being squeezed even further with inflation in Britain running at little over three per cent compared with a rise in overhead costs from inputs at more than 5 per cent.

CW 4/9/10