Following the EU referendum there has been much debate on the role of British products, including food in consumer mind-sets when shopping and whether domestic producers are likely to benefit.
Research conducted in March 2017 by YouGov would suggest buying British is very popular among the population, with some 63% of respondents preferring to shop at local businesses while 71% said when shopping, they preferred to buy British food where possible.
However, goodwill alone to buying British will not itself be enough as price remains a key driver of product choice. Nonetheless, while price and indeed saving money are important considerations, they are not the only driver of choice as value is also an important consideration. While 26% of respondents said British products are more trustworthy only 16% said British food represented better value for money.
According to the YouGov research, the decision to leave has raised concerns about the impact on domestic food standards for some.Opinion varies depending on how people voted in the referendum with 29% of remain voters feeling they would get worse.
On the face of it the UK’s decision to leave the EU would seemingly have a greater benefit for British food as some 23% of respondents say that they would be more likely to try to purchase British food compared to 17% saying they would more likely to try to purchase British products (excluding food). That said more than a half said the referendum decision would not impact their shopping choices.
While sentiment would appear to be positive towards buying British, the key watch out is what consumers say they will do and how they actually behave in store are not always the same thing especially when price is such an important driver of product choice.
