Local produce gains ground in Catalans' shopping baskets

PRODECA – Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda has presented its 'Mapping the consumption and marketing of local, short-chain agri-food products', which sizes the market value of local food. The report is based on surveys of consumers, retailers, large-scale distribution and producers holding the "Local Sales" label.

Consumers' local produce shopping basket

A first conclusion is that 85.6% of Catalan consumers think it is important that the products in their shopping basket are local food, and almost half prioritise local produce in their shopping. For more than a third (37.4%) local purchases make up more than half their basket. Fruit and vegetables are the products where "localness" matters most to consumers. 

The main reasons given for choosing local produce are contributing to the local economy (53.2%) and supporting small producers (48.4%). By contrast, price and the lack of outlets are the main barriers to consumers buying local produce.

It is clear that a large majority of consumers (75%) prefer to buy local produce in shops and, although 70% know about online shopping platforms, only 19% say they use them to buy local produce.

Finally, looking at Covid-19's impact on Catalan consumers' shopping habits, 37.5% think they have bought more local produce because of the pandemic, especially fruit, vegetables and fresh meat. By contrast, 55% of respondents say the pandemic has not influenced their purchases of local products.

Consumption and sale of local products in distribution

The second part of the report focuses on distributors, through quantitative surveys of almost 90 retailers (food shops, market stallholders, catering and hospitality) and qualitative interviews with large-scale distribution players (managers of major supermarket chains). 

According to the mapping, 77% of the products retailers buy are local, led by meat and cured meats (40%), followed by wine and cava (20%) and multi-product (cheeses, dairy products and eggs – vegetable juices, drinks and smoothies – preserves, jams and marmalades – cereals, nuts, rice and pulses – sweets, confectionery and honey – extracts, essences and ingredients).

As with consumers, 75% of the retailers surveyed associate "local" with the idea of distance , while the product's added-value characteristics take second place. They also give the same reasons as consumers for valuing local produce (contributing to the local economy and supporting small producers). For large-scale distribution, localness is a highly valued attribute for building ties with consumers, and the "Local Sales" label adds value to their products. 

As for distribution channels, more than half of retailers (67.3%) say they receive online orders from their customers, far higher than the proportion of consumers who say they buy online. 

On Covid-19's influence, opinions among retailers are evenly split between those for whom Covid-19 meant an increase in local produce sales (31%) and those for whom it meant a decrease (26.8%).

Future expectations in distribution are very positive , with 44% of retailers believing local produce purchases will rise over the next three years, by an estimated 13.4%. The large distribution chain managers surveyed also agree that the arrival of local produce on their shelves is a trend that is here to stay and place it front and centre in their strategic plans.

Sales by producers with the "Local Sales" label

The mapping also includes around a hundred quantitative surveys of producers holding the "Local Sales" label from the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, in order to set out the importance of this agri-food segment. Accordingly, turnover by producers with the "Local Sales" label is estimated at €1,470 million, which is 3.85% of the whole agri-food sector's turnover and 8.9% of total consumer spending on food and drink in Catalonia.

According to the mapping, Almost half (43%) of the turnover of producers with the "Local Sales" label comes from sales to individuals and the rest from distribution, with traditional shops and hospitality particularly important. As for online sales channels, only 19% of producers say they sell online, while 54% say they would like to in future. Among those already selling online, attracting customers and a lack of internet presence are the main difficulties. For those not yet doing so, managing home deliveries is the main obstacle to taking the step. 

On the pandemic's weight, it influenced sales by producers with the "Local Sales" label less in 2021 than in 2020. While sales grew significantly in 2019 on 2018 (9.5%), 2020 brought stagnation linked to Covid-19's impact (for 47% of producers the pandemic meant lower sales), followed by a slight pick-up of 5.3% in 2021. 

That said, the outlook for producers with the "Local Sales" label is positive, with an expected significant average increase in turnover of 15% over the next three years: 49% of respondents expect sales to rise, with an average increase of 38%, and only 11% expect sales to fall, with an average decrease of 33%. The products expected to grow most are in the fruit and vegetables and multi-product categories.