From this week, Marks & Spencer will start to label food that has been imported to the UK by air. The label, which features a small aeroplane symbol and the words 'air freighted', will initially appear on over 20 different food products such as beans, mangetout and strawberries, rising to 150 by the end of the year. This move is part of Marks & Spencer's new £200m 'eco-plan', Plan A, which includes a commitment for M&S to become carbon neutral within five years.
Guy Farrant, Director of Food, Marks & Spencer said: "Our customers want to know more about how food is transported into the UK. We already label all our food with its country of origin, and in many cases we also include the name of the farmer on pack. We're putting an aeroplane symbol on the small amount of food we transport by air because we know this is something our customers increasingly care about."
The new labelling sits alongside M&S' other Plan A commitments on climate change which include:
Buying as much food from the UK and Ireland as possible
Doubling its regional food sourcing
Growing its existing local supply networks
Minimising the amount of air freighted food
Undertaking research into the carbon footprint of our food products with the Carbon Trust.
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