The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland has named Aldi as the leading supermarket for sourcing Scottish produce in its latest ShelfWatch 2025 Mid-Year Report. Aldi now stocks 41% of its own-label products from Scottish suppliers, marking a 7% increase since January and a 6% rise year-on-year. This notable progress reflects Aldi's ongoing investment in strengthening local supply chains and commitment to supporting Scottish farmers and producers. At the combined Scottish and British sourcing level, Aldi matches the Co-op with 88%, positioning both retailers ahead of competitors in the race to boost domestic sourcing.

While Aldi remains the top performer, NFU Scotland highlights commendable gains from other supermarkets, with the Co-op showing the most improvement since January, and Asda matching Aldi's year-on-year progress. Despite these positive developments, NFU Scotland president Andrew Connon emphasised the broader industry’s slow pace, pointing out that less than 20% of the products on Scottish supermarket shelves originate from Scotland. He called for accelerated efforts, saying, “Consumers want to buy Scottish. Farmers want to supply Scottish. But supermarkets are still too reliant on imports – whether it’s lamb from the Southern Hemisphere or veg flown in from overseas.”

The ShelfWatch audit, which monitors origin, labelling, and visibility of own-label products across eight major UK supermarkets, uncovers both encouraging trends and areas of concern. While British pork sourcing has steadily increased by 17%, replacing some imports, and there are positive signs in pork and milk categories, the rise in imported vegetables is troubling. This surge, potentially exacerbated by this year’s dry weather conditions impacting domestic production, underscores the urgent need for investment in supply chain resilience.

Another significant concern raised by the report is the growing presence of imported lamb on supermarket shelves. Year-on-year, imported lamb has increased by 8%, with big retailers such as Tesco and Morrisons stocking lamb from New Zealand and Australia. Alarming figures show that Asda’s shelves contain 82% imported lamb, with no Scotch lamb available. This points to a widening dependence on overseas supply for a product intrinsically linked to Scotland’s agricultural identity.

Aldi's leadership in promoting Scottish produce is further underpinned by its Scottish Buying Department, established in 2009, which collaborates with over 90 local suppliers to offer more than 450 Scottish-produced items. Graham Nicolson, group buying director at Aldi Scotland, expressed pride in these achievements and stressed the importance of ShelfWatch data in guiding the retailer’s strategies to expand and improve Scottish ranges and ensure quality for customers.

NFU Scotland plans to revisit these findings in their forthcoming end-of-year report and will continue direct engagement with major retailers. Their agenda includes pushing for clearer product labelling, fairer pricing structures for Scottish producers, stronger commitments to local sourcing, and enhanced visibility and branding protocols to better promote Scottish products to consumers.

Despite signs of progress, the overarching message from NFU Scotland is clear: while Aldi leads the pack and other retailers are improving, the sector as a whole must do much more to reduce reliance on imports and bolster the Scottish supply chain for the benefit of farmers, consumers, and the local economy.