Archive for 6 January, 2009
Provenance vs. Value
In November 07 I blogged that I thought the foodservice sector were really starting to wake up to the importance of provenance.
In the grim economic reality of January 2009 I wonder whether retailers, manufacturers and everyone else in the food supply chain are going to be quite so bothered? Of course a lot of it is down to the consumer – when times are tight will choosing a ‘happy chicken’ to roast or having an organic veg box delivered become a luxury that many can no longer justify?
I’m guessing that Value is going to overtake Provenance in the importance stakes, in fact the recent rash of discountitis at all the major mults would indicate that it already has. TNS reported in December that sales of free range chicken are down but so are sales of ready meals at Asda, who recon we are entering “a new decade of frugality”.
Value doesn’t necessarily mean ‘cheap’, it can just as easily mean ‘quality at the right price’. Perhaps we won’t see that dramatic a drop in provenance influenced purchasing, but will see a rise in interest in thrifty ways of using up decent quality food?
