UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is backing a move to rename home-grown Brussels sprouts as British sprouts.
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This week has seen the beginning of a four week renaming trial, to see if consumers pick up on the difference, and adjust their purchasing decisions accordingly. Russell Crowe, sprout buyer for Sainsbury’s, told Ananova: “We know the country of origin is of great importance to our customers and that they are eager to buy British produce.
“Sainsbury’s sprouts are British-grown and we feel obliged to tell our customers the truth.”
The move, made so close to the Christmas period (generally the most popular time of year to buy sprouts in the UK), has delighted Eurosceptics, and the British Sprout Growers’ Association, which has been campaigning for sprouts to be called British sprouts for two years now. The association maintains that a sprout by any name does not taste so sweet, and the British grown sprout deserves to be distinguishable from its continental cousin.
The vegetables, which have a somewhat tarnished reputation in the UK, originated in the Middle East. They became a delicacy in Belgium in the 13th century and have been grown there ever since.
To read more about the British sprouts campaign click here.
