The discounters are still the darlings of the retail sector and can seemingly do no wrong. Their rapid rise in popularity is continuing to hit the big four’s sales particularly at Asda which is suffering an identity crisis with how it appeals to shoppers since it lost its Low Prices crown.
It’s therefore interesting that both Aldi and Lidl have has come out with marketing campaigns focusing not on price, but on their responsible sourcing credentials.
Aldi’s ‘Everyday Amazing’ TV ad still stays true to Aldi’s cheeky personality with skydiving grannies but highlights that it sells 22,000 British free range chickens every week and all its Specially Selected Scottish Salmon is RSPCA assured.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z0i-CpEYeQ
This follows Lidl’s ‘Lidl Surprises’ campaign which challenges customer’s misconceptions about its food sourcing by taking them to meet the farmers and producers. The series of ads tells its home-grown story using hero products such as its Deluxe Scotch Assured Beef and Scottish MSC-approved Rope Grown Mussels.
This goes to show that provenance is just as important as price to British shoppers. The narrative about low prices at any cost is well and truly behind us. With Brexit looming large there is lots of discussion about whether leaving the EU will offer an opportunity to British farmers and producers as imported food like cheese, wine and fruit and vegetables become more expensive. Or, is there a risk that we will lose our farming heritage as EU agricultural subsidies are removed?
It’s certainly an interesting time for British food. Lucre is going to explore these issues in more detail with a roundtable event Provenance Vs Price: The Future of British Food at NABIM (National Association of British and Irish Millers) on 6th October from 3pm-6pm. We’ll have supermarket food trends expert Margaret McSorley Walker talking through some of the unlikely heroes of British food and Bryan Roberts, Global Insights Director at tcc Global looking at what British means to shoppers and retailers.
If you’d like to come, please email vickie@lucre.co.uk.
