National Farmers’ Union Scotland has published the results for Phase 3 of its ShelfWatch initiative, finding a decline in Scottish-branded produce across almost all retailers.

In Phase 3, over a 48-hour period in late Autumn, an independent research firm visited 73 stores across mainland Scotland. Researchers looked primarily at own-brand beef, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs, vegetables, soft fruit and dairy products (milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt) on offer in Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Lidl and Aldi stores. In total, more than 15,000 individual products were audited.

In a disappointing set of results, Phase 3 found that the amount of Scottish own brand products dropped in every major retailer apart from Lidl. For own brand products, Aldi had the highest amount of Scottish with 35 per cent. Co-op was second with 25%, ahead of M&S with 18%. However, in the latest quarter, Aldi showed the largest decrease in Scottish availability, down 10% when compared to the second quarter.

As well as understanding how the retailers are making Scottish produce available, ShelfWatch also looked at UK own brand products to give a combined ranking. Some Scottish produce is sold with UK branding, something which NFU Scotland is looking to understand more about.

In the combined Scottish and UK branded rankings, Co-op moved to first position, with M&S in second and Morrisons third. There were modest changes in the overall stocking of UK products, the largest increase was Tesco with 7%.

Since ShelfWatch started in January 2024, NFU Scotland has met with all of the retailers to discuss the opportunities and barriers to more Scottish sourcing and these discussions will continue. It has also undertaken independent consumer research which supported changes to labelling legislation to support Scottish food and drink.

The ShelfWatch Phase 3 results:

• There is a mixed picture of support from retailers for Scottish and UK produce.
• Aldi still has the largest amount of own-brand Scottish labelled produce across the retailers. Co-op was second and Lidl third.
• In terms of retailer commitment to British produce, Co-op has the largest overall commitment with 87%.
• Support for Scottish beef remains strong, with six of the retailers stocking more than 60% Scottish. Scottish lamb is more variable with three retailers stocking either low levels or no Scottish, and there are small quantities of Irish beef being imported by some retailers.
• There remains low levels of Scottish chicken and pork across most of the retailers. Likewise, with processed pork products such as bacon and sausages .
• There is still support for Scottish soft fruit, although all the retailers are importing due to the end of the Scottish season.
• On assessment there appears to be low levels of Scottish vegetables and potatoes although there are significant amounts of vegetables that are grown, processed and packed in Scotland that are being branded as UK.
• There remains strong support for Scottish fresh milk and eggs.

NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said: “On behalf of farmers and crofters, NFU Scotland is continuing with its ShelfWatch project, shining a light on where and how Scottish produce is being made available to consumers. We want to support our members to ensure that there is recognition and reward for the outstanding food that they work so hard to produce.

“These latest set of results are disappointing, and we have yet to see the increased support for locally produced produce that we hoped for. At a time when our farmers and crofters are facing so many challenges, we need all parts of the supply chain to step up and play their role. Whilst there are good examples of this, we believe there is potential to do so much more, and we have written to each major retailer this week to seek further discussions on how we can support them to redouble their efforts.

“The results… told us that consumers want products which are branded Scottish.”

“To supplement our ShelfWatch work, we commissioned an independent company in October to undertake consumer research to help us understand demand for Scottish produce. The results of that told us that consumers want products which are branded Scottish. Delivering on Scottish is a win-win for our farmers and retailers.

“The ShelfWatch project is evolving, and it is already helping us build up a picture of how major retailers operate and opening up an improved dialogue with them. We look forward to building on this as part of an increased focus on the supply chain and we will continue to use the results to inform ongoing retailer engagement and to underpin relevant policy workstreams.”