RICHMOND MP Rishi Sunak has visited a supermarket to see how it is championing local food producers.
The MP called in to the Leyburn Co-op to find out about the community retailer’s local supplier initiative.
He met Wayne Ferguson of Yorkshire Dales Meat, of Patrick Brompton, one of more than 50 local manufacturers and micro producers that the Co-op has signed up to provide its stores across Yorkshire with a wide range of locally produced items.
The Co-op has worked closely with the suppliers in order to understand and unlock the logistical issues which in the past have prevented local firms providing relatively small amounts of their quality products to stores in their vicinity.
Yorkshire Dales Meats was founded by the Knox family on its Mill Close Farm and began by selling meat reared on the farm at local markets. It supplies hotels, restaurants and stores across Yorkshire.
The Co-op in Leyburn and its sister stores in Bedale and Richmond now sell a range of local foods including beer from the Wensleydale Brewery at Bellerby and ice cream from Brymor at High Jervaulx.
Rishi said: "Local people want to buy local food. They want to do that because they know their purchasing decision helps their local economy.
"In Yorkshire we have some amazing producers who deserve to have their products showcased in this way. I make a point to trying to shop local and I am sure many of my constituents, given the opportunity, do the same.
"I congratulate the Co-op on taking this initiative to get the fantastic food of Yorkshire on Co-op shelves across the county."
Charlotte Bleasdale, programme manager at the Co-op, said: “Our customers have told us they want to buy local products at their Co-op store and so we have responded by teaming up with more than 50 new Yorkshire suppliers.
"Products made in the vicinity of our stores are prized by customers who want to support locally produced regional food which often helps to define a specific area such as Yorkshire.
“Our unique local sourcing initiative has been designed to break down the barriers which have previously made it difficult for small companies to supply large national organisations.
"Our vision is to champion a better way of doing business for you and your communities and what better way for us to do this than to sell as many locally produced goods as possible."