During yesterday afternoon's inevitable low blood sugar moment I was surveying the contents of the vending machine here at PrintWeek Towers and noticed something that points to an apparently growing trend. Packets of Walkers crisps have a prominent strapline 'made from 100% British potatoes' on the front of them nowadays, and I've seen an increasing amount of this sort of 'Made in Britain/UK' messaging. It's particularly prevalent in foodstuffs, for fairly obvious reasons, but also other areas such as greetings cards. At London Fashion Week this week billionaire retailer Philip Green told the FT that Arcadia was manufacturing more goods in the UK, and looking for ways to increase the amount. This called to mind a blog from 2010 when I was bemoaning a lack of this sort of banging-the-national-drum activity compared with our cousins in the States. And it's also worth giving another mention to Butler Tanner & Dennis' Great British Book marque idea. I wonder if - given ongoing economic travails, cutbacks, and increasing unemployment - people are becoming more interested, and more aware, of the positive impact in buying 'local'. Even if it's not possible to have 'Printed by *name*' on a piece, there's surely no harm in suggesting the addition of a 'Printed in Britain' line next time the opportunity arises?
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