Retail: Get Help To Buy Local

“In a recent survey carried out at one of our exhibitions, 92% of businesses that attended said they want to buy more food and supplies locally. As 65% of consumers already buy local in some way they appreciate that the demand is there and they understand the importance of working towards lower foods miles but don’t know who their local suppliers are as currently there is no obvious place to find them!” says Wendy Baird who has launched a campaign called We Trade Local, that she intends to expand across the UK over the next 12 months.

We Trade Local currently provides two vital services to food and drink retailers and caterers in order to help them trade more locally. Ms Baird is also about to launch the first We Trade Local Annual Suppliers Directory that will cover trade suppliers and services in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The directory will be distributed free to local retail businesses, providing them with a unique and essential tool to buy more of their supplies locally.

“The need for a series of very targeted local buyers directories is evident and as consumers become more aware of their buying habits, retailers need to do the same or they will shortly find themselves being left behind. The We Trade Local directories will bring together essential supplier information for a particular region, saving businesses the time consuming task of searching for details in many places. In fact the directories can even save them money by using the exclusive special offer vouchers that are inside,” adds Ms Baird.

There is clearly an important environmental benefit surrounding this issue. She explains, “With around 2,000 food and drink retailers in Nottinghamshire alone, if each retailer chose a weekly supplier that was ten miles closer to them, the collective impact would save over two million food miles a year, without costing any more and actually saving money in some cases! Has there ever been a stronger reason to buy local?”