The NFU has received its fair share of criticism over the years for not being proactive enough in addressing the hard commercial realities that face horticulture.

But the SourceDirect initiative unveiled this week to my mind really makes contact with the outside world, if its members decide that £150 a year is a fair price to pay to broaden their opportunities to develop regional food sales.

The attraction of local food is not new. Drive through any country lane in the UK ñ even if there is not a farm shop in the vicinity, there will be billboards extolling motorists to stop and shop.

Consumers give the impression they would prefer to purchase food produced locally in the same way that they support British food generally. The question is where, and if they will buy the food. The union has come up with a sensible formula that will make sourcing easier.

It will be intriguing to see whether the multiples, now paying more attention to stocking regional products and already labelling them with source region and the name of the producer, will strengthen their hold on this sector. Will they indeed subscribe to the new service?

It could be argued retailers have already discovered most niche-market food products now fiercely protected by category managers. So how will retailers react if suppliers with whom they have built a “special relationship”, choose to widen their customer base?

If you can buy the same local herb-filled, hand-reared, pork sausage at the local corner shop, as at the supermarket down the road, has any conceivable point of difference been destroyed?

One weakness which may encourage UK suppliers to look elsewhere is that the fresh produce sector has often found it difficult to supply the biggest customers. Not because of quality, but simply because volumes are too limited and distribution too complex.

The NFU strategy would appear to favour the remaining independent small retailers stocking through secondary wholesalers, who also play a vital role in the wider food chain by serving the catering trade.

Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the matter is more complex when it comes to horticulture.

It is much easier to differentiate between speciality meat and dairy products, whoever stocks them, simply because even in a modest way these have a built-in sense of branding and regionality that consumers understand.

Fresh produce is more difficult to quantify. Fruit has an obvious advantage because of a clearer sense of seasonality and variety, but it is far harder to differentiate between similar brassicas, root or salad crops grown across the country because the public is not generally aware of any differentiation.

In fruit and veg terms, the appeal which will be the catalyst ñ as far as the buyers are concerned ñ is freshness and pandering to local sentimentality.

A possible potential benefit of developing the concept could lie with the greater utilisation of representative produce organisations.

At the least there should be more people visiting the farm gate, or should I say website.crop