M&S air freight labels appear today

M&S is continuing to set the green agenda on the high street. From this week, the store will start to label food that has been imported to the UK by air with an aeroplane symbol and the words ‘air freighted’. The symbol will initially appear on over 20 different food products such as beans, mangetout and strawberries, rising to 150 by the end of the year.

The move is part of Marks & Spencer’s new £200m ‘eco-plan’, Plan A, a commitment for the chain to become carbon neutral within five years. Guy Farrant, Director of Food, Marks & Spencer said 'our customers want to know more about how food is transported into the UK. We already label all our food with its country of origin, and in many cases we also include the name of the farmer on pack. We’re putting an aeroplane symbol on the small amount of food we transport by air because we know this is something our customers increasingly care about.'