Safeway's new regional scheme will be trialed in Kent and all pre-packed apples sold in the county will feature a 'Grown in Kent' label. The Kent trial will last for a month, and if successful, the campaign will be rolled out to other counties and will encompass other lines.

'Many of our customers want to know that the apples they are eating come from their own county,' said Karen Schenstrom, Safeway's commercial director. 'There is a lot of support for locally grown produce and with the English apples season in full swing, now is the perfect opportunity to launch such an initiative.' Safeway also plans to have growers at some of its stores to promote the apples.

The next lines which could benefit from a regional boost are carrots and other root vegetables, these could be followed by cauliflower other leafy vegetables and brassicas, and then salads.

Safeway is benefiting from a vintage year for English apples and sales of Cox through the retailer's stores are 73 per cent higher than at the same period last year. The store is also running point of sale promotions and an inter-store competition to create the best display in an attempt to boost sales further.

Its efforts have been welcomed by English Apples & Pears. 'The overwhelming number of consumers want to buy English apples and take great pride in locally grown produce,' said EA&P's Adrian Barlow. 'This announcement by Safeway must be welcomed as a move to encouraging more consumers to buy English apples.'