A campaign led by Conservative MP Luke Evans is urging retailers to create a Buy British section on their websites

British strawberries

Sainsbury’s said it references its British-sourced items in different ways online

A campaign led by Conservative MP Luke Evans championing British produce has attracted support from over 100 politicians, reports The Telegraph.

An open letter to UK supermarkets urging them to set up a “Buy British” section on their websites has more than 110 signatories, the paper said.

Lee Anderson, the deputy Tory chairman, and Graham Stuart, the climate minister, are among Conservatives to sign the letter calling on retailers to direct shoppers to homegrown food in an effort to boost the economy and cut the UK’s carbon footprint, according to The Telegraph.

The MPs say the change could be achieved “by the click of a mouse”, and a government source told the paper that ministers backed “industry-led action” to “help signpost customers to buy British where they can”.

According to the article, most major supermarkets do not yet have a dedicated tab on their online stores to direct customers to their entire British range. 

NFU president Minette Batters told The Telegraph that it was “great” to see MPs get behind the “Buy British” initiative because “we have been asking retailers to commit to signposting British produce for a number of years”.

She said political and public support for the UK industry was “more important and more valued than ever”. 

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “Our British-sourced items are referenced in several different ways, including category filters and flags on products. We are constantly adapting our website to reflect the way our customers shop online and help them find the products they are looking for.”

An Ocado spokesman said: “As an online-only retailer, we can be really agile and specific with the information we share, so when fresh produce is in season, we’ll also add ‘British’ to the product’s title on site.”

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