2024-09-28
This is something which we have all become used to - "fake" branding.
It's obviously "fake" when you consider the range of produce which is sold under the "farm name" (typically "XYZ Farms") as I am sure the supermarket chains themselves would agree, and it's undeniably not a fake brand as it is a real brand, but it still has the effect of hiding, or at any rate making less obvious, the true source of the fresh food that we buy, since "XYZ Farms" names neither a supplier nor a grower.
You could say the same for brands such as Tesco's "Finest" - it doesn't per se disclose the source (although that may be somewhere in the small print) but it does provide an indication of the "quality" (whatever meaning that word has in the specific context, which may actually be dependent on the assumptions of the individual shopper).
And it is true that if all you need is a vague indication of "quality" then the branding does provide this without needing to bother the shopper with details of which of the many individual growers grew this particular bag of leaves.
So there are quite a few arguments both pro and anti which can be advanced here, but what it comes down to is "how do we trust what we are buying?", and if we can't identify the specific characteristics in which we are interested, then that is a good question.
It's a question which today is almost totally in the hands of the supermarket chains to resolve as they see fit, but clearly their customers may also have views, even if rather more variable and perhaps difficult to simplify!
Our farmers think it's a good question too, and have some relevant points to make. Still, we do have to point out that the website supporting this page is from a high-end supplier whose volumes and high-end market are not necessarily a good fit with those of the major supermarkets.
Nevertheless, in an time where good health and perhaps stable reliable supply chains can no longer be taken for granted, maybe we should give this situation some serious thought.
