A SMALL but hardy contingent of 'Keep Scotland the Brand' campaigners gathered outside Sainsbury's in Kelso last Saturday in support of Scottish farmers and produce.

This grassroots campaign, initiated by consumers, is reportedly growing all over rural Scotland, prompted by the steady disappearance of the Saltire on Scottish-grown food, and its replacement by Union flag packaging.

"A two minute dash through the vegetable row in Sainsbury's and we filled a basket with potatoes from Angus, Perthshire and Berwickshire; carrots and parsnips from Fife and sprouts and cabbage from East Lothian," said campaigner Keith Pattison from East Berwickshire.

"All fresh produce from Scotland, but not one displayed a Saltire as they would have done till very recently. Instead they were wrapped in massive Union flags," he complained.

Fellow campaigner Jackie Thompson added: "We're not being petty about this. Scotland has a deserved reputation for high quality food and we're concerned that credit is not being given where it's due. More seriously, it's a situation that may well lead to loss of market share as the Scotland brand disappears, damaging Scotland's producers."

Also on the demo, Alison Currie added that undermining the visibility of Scottish produce was damaging to the 'shop local' ethos: "Being Kelso, we met more than a few farmers getting their shopping in before the rugby started," she reported. "They were well aware of the dangers posed by this brand dilution and glad to sign our petition and glad for the support.

"With Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb currently left out of UK Brexit trade deals, we see further undermining of our high quality brand as yet another blow for Scottish farmers."