Peter Moore looks at P&O’s identity as a ‘British’ shipping company

In a global market, where our pineapples come from Costa Rica, our lamb from New Zealand and our beer from Denmark, it’s comforting to see P&O Ferries sourcing their produce from Britain.

Each ferry is filled daily with a supply of local fruit and vegetables, most of which come from the farms of C.J. Bean & Sons, just 10 miles from Dover port. They carry British meats, pies, pasties, ice creams, eggs, cider and beers – one of the most popular of which is the Kentish Spitfire brew.

It’s a policy to which P&O are deeply committed. On their official website they underline the lengths to which they go to locate these supplies. They abide by the terms of the Great English Apple Campaign, the British Potato Council and the English beef and lamb executive.

This drive to keep P&O’s products ‘British’ reflects an important strand of the company’s identity. For years they have been strongly associated in the public mind with the south eastern tip of England: with the white cliffs, the Dover harbour and the green countryside which rolls behind. It’s a link that they are trying to preserve.

And by neglecting the allure of the global market in favour of the neighbouring countryside, P&O are doing much more than proping up local businesses. By not having to cart cheap food around the world in the usual bizarre manner, P&O are doing much more than many others companies to reduce their impact on the environment.

Just like any other nation, we British are people of habit – always attracted back to the familiar. And, after those two weeks under the sun in your Breton gite, chewing on baguettes, local ham and strong cheese, you can head for Calais with an extra pang of anticipation. Walkers crisps, Melton Mowbrays, Kentish Spitfire and Cornish Clotted Cream. They’re all closer than you could ever have imagined.

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imagfe credit: ian_keven

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