The little red tractor logo will soon have a claim to truly represent the “cream” of food when it makes its first appearance on the “white stuff” in the next few weeks.
From 19 February the British Farm Standard mark goes on fresh milk in Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
With 18,000 farmers signed up to the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme through their milk buyers, this represents about 80% of farmers in England, Wales and Scotland whose milk now qualifies to use the logo.
Around 7 billion litres of liquid milk are sold each year, ensuring that the logo will get an even higher profile with shoppers.
It follows a decision by the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme Ltd to provide independent inspections of producer members, bringing it in line with the other farm assurance schemes represented by the logo.
NFU President Ben Gill – who welcomed the move at the organisation’s annual conference and AGM today (Wednesday)- said: “This marks a really important development in the range of products that are now covered by the little red tractor.
“Milk is the raw material for lots of other dairy products, opening the door to the logo to be used on cream, yoghurts and other desserts. It’s certainly a good move for the “white stuff”.”
Ben Gill acknowledged that this development in the rollout of the little red tractor comes as a result of the efforts of the board of the NDFAS, which consists of NFU, DIF, FMG and BCVA.
The British Farm Standard was launched in June to highlight food produced to exacting animal welfare, environmental and food hygiene standards, all independently verified. It is on 5,000 lines in over 500 supermarkets covering meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables.
Go deeper with GlobalData
