As part of a bid to recapture market share from German discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, Tesco  has rebranded a section of its fresh produce and meat products, aiming to match or beat the budgeters on price. However, the supermarket - which remains the UK’s largest retailer - has come under fire for using the names of fictional farms on its new branding.  

The made-up farms include “Woodside Farms” pork, “Boswell Farms” beef, “Willow Farms” chicken, as well as Nightingale (greens), Redmere (vegetables) and Suntrail Farms (imported fruits). The practice - of using a catch-all, bucolic name for a certain product - is one already used by the German discounters, but Tesco’s decision to follow suit has attracted criticism, not least because it was one of the major players caught out in the horsemeat scandal in 2013.

In the wake of the scandal, Tesco made greater commitments to sourcing food from closer to home, and to greater transparency about the origin of foods on sale in its stores. Former CEO Phillip Clarke told farmers at the 2013 NFU Conference, “What we are working to achieve is transparency: transparent relationships with our suppliers and transparent relationships with our customers.”

Clarke’s successor Dave Lewis has made much of this commitment to transparency since his appointment in 2014.

Responding to the decision on Tuesday, the NFU, which professes to be working to connect children and adults with the sources of the food they eat through its Back British Farming campaign, said the new branding makes labelling the real origin of foods is all the more important.

NFU chief food chain adviser Ruth Mason commented, “It’s vital that shoppers have accurate, clear labelling on the origin of any British food or drink product in order to make an informed choice about what they are buying. The NFU is seeking assurance that Tesco’s new branding on selected food products is accurately and clearly labelled as British.

“We recognise that Tesco has chosen to brand these products with fictional farm names – a marketing technique practiced in Aldi and Lidl on selected product lines. There will inevitably be shoppers who are led to believe that the fictional names of the farms are the real source of the product - this makes the need for clear and accurate origin labelling even greater.”

In turn, Tesco said all its produce is “Sourced with care from a range of trusted suppliers,” and claimed that “Some of the names – Nightingale, Redmere and Rosedene – have historically been operating farms and have been selected in partnership with our suppliers.”

A Tesco spokesperson said 100% of the supermarket’s fresh greens, white potatoes, chicken and beef are sourced from the UK and added, “All of our packaging clearly displays the country of origin on front of pack, to help customers make an informed decision on what they wish to buy.”