Provenance is making headlines again, with Tesco announcing this morning that it plans to source all its chicken from UK farmers in future. Guess that will at least mean some extra printings of red tractor and union flag labels. And no doubt additional measures around traceability will also be good news for companies such as Domino when it comes to tracking various items in our complex food chains. At the risk of repeating myself (a year on, as it turns out), I remain convinced that this "buy British" sentiment is something that printcos up and down the country should be leveraging to their advantage whenever the opportunity presents itself. Retailers are certainly tapping into it. Long gone are the days when M&S carrier bags used to proclaim "99% of St Michael goods are British made", but at London Fashion Week earlier this month Marks & Spencer announced plans for new clothing lines featuring "a combination of British heritage, sourcing and production”. And looky here, what's this on the M&S greetings card racks, which have been notable for being mostly filled with cards of the made in China variety? There's a zeitgeist going on here, and printers would be mad not to make the most of it.
Have your say in the Printweek Poll
Related stories
Latest comments
"Been there too!"
"Very True"
"Customers expect quality as a basic requirement so quality is no longer a selling point as its a given. Similarly so, accreditations are a nice to have and show customers that you are committed but as..."
Up next...

50 accredited partners offering GGS loans
Guaranteed Growth Scheme receives extra £500m as tariffs bite

Flatter and streamlined organisation
Stora Enso restructure to reflect renewable packaging importance

Took over in the role on 1 April
Paul Brough becomes Mail Users’ Association chair

Birmingham's Marco Pierre White restaurant