Shoppers Care Where Their Foods Come From!

In our weekly SupermarketGuru Newsflash we asked shoppers if they felt that "country of origin labeling" was important to them - we did not get one response saying that it was not. Part of the Farm Bill requires that this labeling take effect, but perhaps two years is too long to wait?

Retailers have a unique opportunity to build trust and strengthen their relationships with their shoppers by being pro-active and requiring these labels before it is mandated. A great marketing opportunity!

Here's just a sampling of the comments we've received:

I prefer to know what country my food comes from, especially when other countries have stricter and safer food regulations. Also, some products, which are made for their markets are more pleasing to me than what is made for American markets. Example: Campbell's Scotch Broth soup. Further, I don't want to use foods that are produced with slave labor. J.C.D.

I think showing Country of origin is a good idea due to problems like Mad Cow disease and events like Chernobyl & Peace River. Knowing where your food comes can be an advantage if you keep up with worldwide events. However, I do feel there will be a down side as well. People would tend to NOT buy pork from the hoof & mouth regions even if it was not tainted. This could be bad for sales in an area that gets hit with something bad, and I fear, unfounded accusations to cause bad reputations to areas that may not even have had a situation occur (lies). L.C.

Yes all foods should be labeled as to country of origin, particularly since if the food product comes in from out of the US, some of those countries use pesticides that have been banned here as dangerous, and/or they don't have the same safeguards in place as we do here to catch improperly handled or processed foods. D.C.

Yes, I would like all food labeled with country of origin. Food coming from third world countries are not necessarily grown and handled in a sanitary manner. Other countries have different insecticide than the USA. M.M.

Yes. It's information that I can use in making purchasing decisions and I'd rather make knowledgeable choices. I'm not as confident in the safety of foreign produce, for example. K.M.

Yes all foods should be labeled as to country of origin, particularly since if the food product comes in from out of the US, some of those countries use pesticides that have been banned here as dangerous, and/or they don't have the same safeguards in place as we do here to catch improperly handled or processed foods. D.O.C.

Yes it would be nice to know where the food comes from; I prefer to only buy home grown milk for example and my eggs too; I feel that they are fresher that way. L.M.