Marks & Spencer has launched a new code of practice for the production and packing of fresh produce. The scheme includes checks and controls on food safety in the field, minimisation of pesticide usage, packing, organic production, genetic modification and traceability. M & S claims that its initiative incorporates the most advanced set of fresh produce standards in the world.
This years soft fruit season has been one of the best on record. Turnover from the industry is estimated at £309m, beating the stone fruit sector, valued at £261m. Strawberry sales rose from 23,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes while raspberries accounted for 16% of soft fruit sales, valued at £50m. Tesco and Marks & Spencer account for half the UK retail sales. However, Sainsbury stood still while ASDA, Safeway and Waitrose and Somerfield showed a decline.
Trade union Usdaw will give Sainsbury's seven days' notice of its intention to hold a ballot on industrial action after it announced that workers at the Sainsbury distribution centre on Merseyside have voted to reject the latest in a series of pay offers.
Workers at the depot in Haydock have voted to reject a new pay offer from the company, at a ratio of five-to-one. The latest pay offer falls short of £8 per hour, which the workers were promised in 2002 to bring them up to the upper-quartile of warehouse workers in the North West area.
Usdaw Area Organiser Glen Dyson said today: "We had a promise that pay would be increased to £8 per hour, but the offers coming from the company are now falling short of this. We are keen to stress that industrial action is a last resort. Usdaw wants to hold talks with the company and bring an acceptable end to this dispute, but so far they have failed to respond."
UK supermarkets have been accused of 'abandoning' British fruit farmers and importing the majority of apples on sale in their stores from abroad.
A Friends of the Earth survey found that Tesco and Asda had fewer UK apples on sale than last year, despite it being a good year for British apples.
FoE food campaigner Liz Wright said the big supermarkets were pushing UK growers out of business. "The government must stop supermarkets abusing their powerful position," she said. "If this trend continuers UK apples could end up as a powerful niche market with the majority of apples coming from overseas - causing transport-related pollution."
But a spokesman for Asda rejected the accusation: "We feel we are doing more than our fair share in promoting English apples," he said. "The survey is quite simplistic."
Tesco said it was stocking 20 varieties of British apples, which was more than ever before. "The accusation is totally untrue," said a spokesman. "The research is old and outdated."
