The interest in Food Provenance

Now, more than ever, everyone wants to know more about where their food comes from. In fact, over 70% per cent. of the UK population want to buy more food locally but only 1% of food bought is actually sourced locally. Striving for a more sustainable and organic food chain has meant that consumers, businesses and food retailers want to improve food provenance.

Changing Consumer Habits

The drive for locally sourced food needs also to keep pace with the changing consumer habits driven by the internet. Within the UK food industry, over 80% of the population have used click and collect in some way and the growth in grocery sales on the internet is estimated to reach almost £17 billion by 2019. If people are continuing to shop online, will they have all the information at their fingertips as to the quality and source of the food that they buy? Will the insights and provenance information you can get from your local butcher, grocer or farmer be lost when ordering online?

Industry impact

These consumer trends will have a big impact on the food retail market, particularly supermarkets. In 2012, 76% of the UK food retail market was dominated by just four supermarkets. If consumers want to buy more food locally with more transparent food provenance information and through an online / click & collect model, supermarkets need to constantly assess and improve the way they provide information to their customers. Independent retailers and farm shops can also embrace internet and digital developments to give them the same platform as the bigger supermarkets.

 Rebuilding Trust

Here at Where’s This From, we believe that providing consumers with food provenance information is a key way for supermarkets and other food retailers to build trust with their customers and facilitate better and wider choice. The leaders in the online market in the next few years will be those that can give their customers full information on the products they buy so that they can understand how their food has made it from farm to fork. If consumers continue to opt for food with better provenance credentials, this can only help to raise standards in the food supply chain from increasing animal welfare to lowering food miles.

 From Farm to Fork

We’re only at the beginning of what technology can do for food provenance. Our App uses open data to provide a first step on the journey to greater transparency and consumer choice. The more support we can gain from consumers, farmers, supermarkets and all other participants in the food chain, the more we hope to be able to help provide more information about the food we eat.

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