As Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall takes on Tesco, will power, marketing and price beat taste and quality?

This morning I listened to 3 news updates on radio 4 about Hugh’s fight with Tesco. Each update gave 3 slightly different sides to the story and I wondered whether each sides PR company was frantically ‘correcting’ the news readers statement. The first treated Hugh as a crazy chef seeking fame, the second, Tesco ignoring consumer’s wishes and the third, that we would have to pay another £1 for a chicken at Tesco if Hugh had his way. Who will win this fight? And why has it come to this?

The balance between food price and quality has traditionally been set by government with ‘Food standards’, and consumers with free choice. As supermarkets have grown more powerful and separated consumer from producer the consumer’s don’t have enough information to make the right choice. As the media reports these hidden facts consumers realise they may be making the wrong choice and are confused. So far this has not bothered supermarkets as a confused customer may be seen as a marketing opportunity to improve shareholder return and customer goodwill.

Hugh and the media have messed up this marketing campaign. I hope.

I will be following this story closely as this is exactly why I set up BigBarn. Hugh and the media may raise awareness to the failings of the UK food industry but to fight the power we must offer consumers an alternative to the supermarket. The alternative to buy chickens direct from a local producer and personally check welfare standards.

As you have registered with BigBarn I know I am preaching to the converted to help the fight please get your friends to register here.

I added a question mark to that heading as some of you I am sure are, saying ‘rubbish’ or ‘how’? I have also added the question mark as nearly all the farm shops I speak to, and we have over 2,000 on BigBarn, say they are cheaper than the supermarket! Are they telling the truth? Read on and you can tell us in our quick click survey.

When they have claimed to be cheaper local producers have to add ‘like for like’ to their statement, essentially meaning it all depends what is on your shopping list. So what is on your shopping list and is local cheaper? If you want fresh meat, bread, fruit and vegetables then your farm shop is probably cheaper and better as, when it is in season, your fruit and veg could be only hours old. If you want value ready meals, tins, foreign fruit and washing products you will probably pay more at the farm shop.

If you want both visit the farm shop once a week and the supermarket once a month.

How can farm shops beat supermarkets buying power and economies of scale I hear you ask? The fact is that farmers on average, only get 9p in every £1 you spend on food in the supermarket. By selling direct there is 91p of margin to make a profit and give you a good deal.

So going back to our survey please click here and add your local food prices for the small shopping basket of common food shopping items and the name of the shop you bought them from. If your local food shop is not on BigBarn tell them to call us for a free listing. If you don’t have a price for all the items just leave the ones you don’t have blank.

If all goes well we will use this information to carry out a PR campaign to correct the misconception that local food is more expensive. This will encourage more people to shop locally, improving their local economy and encouraging more, and diverse, local food production. So there is something in it for you! We are also giving away a Jordan’s hampers to 5 entrants selected at random. Thanks for your time.

Thanks very much to all those who met me at the East of England show. If you were one of the mad fools who volunteered to have your photo taken with a Fine Food Crusader hat on click here to see your photo.

I spent the last 3 days at the East of England show enjoying dressing up as Carrot Man and listening to people’s opinions on local food. It seems everyone wants local food and more people than I thought are making an effort to buy it. Brilliant! All you need to do now is register for our newsletter so we can pass on special offers form your local producers.

Buying local should be cheaper as you are cutting out the middle men, to find out more and join our survey please click here http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/blog/?articleid=276.