Local food in North Dorset                  

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The attraction of buying local food is generally well understood but the challenge is to make it easier for consumers to find and buy local products. Some consumers will indeed go out of their way to find and support local producers, but many people lead busy lives and the 'time poor' gravitate towards outlets with many products.

Supermarkets recognise that consumers want local product (though the 'organic' label perhaps carries more clout), but their interpretation of 'local' varies, as does the level of their commitment.


 

Waitrose in Gillingham, for example, stock Fudges wonderful biscuits and Manor Farm milk both of which are definitely local. They also carry cheeses from some named farms - Greens in Glastonbury (goats cheese), Keens Farm in East Somerset, Brue Valley in Somerset - as part of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers range. This is an interesting development - our first thought was that it was a disguised Waitrose own-brand but it turns out to be some form of co-operative marketing vehicle for a group of independent cheesemakers, all with the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status conferred by the EU.

But apart from that the only visible 'regional' brands on display are Duchy Originals and Yeo Valley. Duchy Originals is Prince Charles' operation - the Duchy is Cornwall and Originals is their organic brand. Some of their jam is produced ('hand-made') in Somerset. But they are a rather special case and are able to deal with the supermarkets on vaguely equal terms. Yeo Valley also have some local (or at least regional) credentials but are now a £120 million turnover company. These are special cases. For most small producers getting stocked by supermarkets, making a profit in doing so and getting any degree of brand exposure through supermarkets can be problematic. We all know what happened with Tom Archer's sausages.

Farmers Markets can't be 12/7 like supermarkets but they perform a very valuable function of offering several producers under one roof. With Farmers Markets operating in Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset markets in Shaftesbury, Sturminster, Wincanton, Frome and Salisbury are within reach.

northdorset.net aims to encourage residents and visitors to North Dorset to do more locally - find good food and drink locally, source services locally, support local enterprises, make like-minded contacts locally, be entertained locally.