Almost 6 out of every 10 items are local

It's not often people in Northern Ireland unite over a sense of identity but new research shows there is one area that unifies us in pride: our love of local food and drink.
Pictured left to right at the launch of Tesco Taste Festival are Gordan Gafa, Tesco Category Director; John Hood, Invest NI; Tess ONeill, Commercial Manager for Tesco NI and Brendan Guidera, Tesco NI Stores Director.Pictured left to right at the launch of Tesco Taste Festival are Gordan Gafa, Tesco Category Director; John Hood, Invest NI; Tess ONeill, Commercial Manager for Tesco NI and Brendan Guidera, Tesco NI Stores Director.
Pictured left to right at the launch of Tesco Taste Festival are Gordan Gafa, Tesco Category Director; John Hood, Invest NI; Tess ONeill, Commercial Manager for Tesco NI and Brendan Guidera, Tesco NI Stores Director.

Independent research by Ulster University Business School, which was commissioned by Tesco Northern Ireland, as part of its 10th Taste Festival, has found that on average, in a main grocery shop, local products now account for almost six out of ten items in a shopping basket (58.2% 1.).

The research which examined consumer perceptions of Northern Ireland food and drink, revealed that two-thirds of respondents (71.8%) said it was fairly or very important to them that they supported their local food and drink industry.

Loyalty for local family businesses was a major driver for purchasing local (91.1%), followed by ‘a sense of pride for the country’ – a sentiment shared by almost three-quarters of respondents (70.3%).

Commenting on the findings, Dr Lynsey Hollywood, from Ulster University Business School, said Northern Ireland’s food and drink sector had successfully managed to crack the community mind-set:“The research findings were very clear in demonstrating that Northern Ireland consumers want to buy locally grown and produced food and drink products. What was really interesting however, was the fact that, in addition to the anticipated consumer motivators such as taste and quality, the resounding consensus among respondents was that they were doing their bit for the local economy, and then some.”

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