Supermarkets Stock More Scottish Food As Farmers' Shelf Audits Bite

Scotland's biggest supermarkets are putting more home-grown food on their shelves, according to the latest findings from ShelfWatch, the retail monitoring campaign run by NFU Scotland.

The campaign, launched in 2024 and now in its third cycle, sends auditors into stores to check the origin, sourcing and labelling of own-label products across eight retailers: Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl, M&S Food, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco. NFU Scotland says more than 95,000 own-label products have been checked across four audit periods, with tens of thousands examined in each round.

Findings published this month show fresh milk labelled as Scottish now accounts for more than 80% of what is sold in Scottish stores, while Scottish egg sourcing is approaching 75%. Every retailer surveyed sold 100% British fresh chicken.

Individual retailers have made specific gains. Aldi now sources 100% of its potatoes, eggs, milk and cream from Scotland. Tesco has increased its Scottish potato sourcing by 15% and introduced Scottish-labelled pork. Lidl sources more than 91% of its chicken from Scotland. M&S recorded 98% Scottish sourcing across soft fruit, eggs, pork and red meat, overtaking Co-op in the union's league table.

Elsewhere, Asda has introduced more than 200 new Scottish product lines, Morrisons is trialling Scottish-first merchandising, and Aldi has committed to a three-year extension of its deal with Browns Group for Scotch Prime Pork.

NFU Scotland president Andrew Connon said the results vindicated the union's approach. "ShelfWatch is proving that constructive engagement works," he said. "Retailers know we are measuring performance, publishing results and recognising progress."

He added that one retailer had told the union: "We're sixth in your league table, and we need to climb that table." According to Connon, "That shows retailers are listening and recognise that shoppers increasingly value Scottish produce."

Consumer appetite appears to back that up. NFU Scotland cites research indicating 71% of Scottish shoppers are more likely to buy a product carrying the Saltire.

The union is not declaring victory. Its audits continue to find shoppers struggling to identify Scottish products on shelf, with weak in-store visibility for local lines even where the sourcing is in place. NFU Scotland has also raised concerns about whether farmers are being paid fairly for the produce being promoted, warning that government proposals on food price caps, or heavy discounting by retailers, risk squeezing returns further down the supply chain.

"The direction of travel is positive," Connon said, "but there is more to do."

The campaign publishes both mid-year reports and annual year-in-review documents, with the next audit round expected to test whether the improvements hold.

Sources: NFU Scotland ShelfWatch campaign; reporting by Farmers Weekly, FarmingUK, The Scottish Farmer and Food Management Today, August 2026.