The average person in England can name two English food or drink producers
Four in ten can't name a single one and only 22% could name five. Most people also didn't know that truffles, saffron, quinoa and wasabi are all grown in England.
Key findings
- Asked whether they could name five English food or drink producers off the top of their head, 22% said yes and 41% couldn't think of one. The average across everyone was two.
- The 45 to 54 age group did worst (50% couldn't name one). The 25 to 34s did best (30% could name five).
- Shown five products that are all produced in England (sparkling wine, truffles, saffron, quinoa and wasabi), 40% didn't know that any of them were. Only sparkling wine was known by more than a quarter of people (43%).
- Just 48% could say that St George's Day is in April. 30% weren't sure.
Two names, then a blank
22% of adults in England said they could name five English food or drink producers. 6% could manage four, 12% three, 11% two and 8% one. The largest single group, 41%, couldn't think of any. Averaged across everyone, that is two producers per person.
| Answer | % |
|---|---|
| Yes, I could name five | 22% |
| I could name four | 6% |
| I could name three | 12% |
| I could name two | 11% |
| I could name one | 8% |
| No, I can't think of any | 41% |
The 45 to 54 age group did worst: half (50%) couldn't name one. The 25 to 34s did best, with 30% able to name five and only 28% unable to name any. Leeds was the city most able to name five (31%) and Sheffield the least (14%).
England grows wasabi. Almost nobody knows
Respondents were shown five products and asked which they knew to be genuinely produced in England: sparkling wine, truffles, saffron, quinoa and wasabi. All five are grown or made here commercially. MadeInEngland.com stocks Hodmedod's quinoa, grown on farms in Essex and Shropshire, Nyetimber's sparkling wine from West Sussex and TruffleHunter's English black truffle oil from Gloucestershire. Saffron is grown in Norfolk and Cheshire, and wasabi in the watercress beds of Dorset and Hampshire.
Sparkling wine was the only one most people got, and even then only 43% knew. 21% knew about truffles, 12% saffron, 9% quinoa and 9% wasabi. 40% didn't pick any of them.
Younger adults knew more about the unexpected ones. 25 to 34 year olds were roughly twice as likely as over-55s to know about truffles (33% against 15%), saffron (22% against 8%) and wasabi (21% against 4%). Sparkling wine is the exception: over-55s were far more likely to know it is made in England (50%) than 18 to 24s (27%).
St George's Day, roughly
Only 48% of adults in England could say that St George's Day falls in April. 30% weren't sure and 10% said March. Among 18 to 24 year olds, 39% got it right and 42% weren't sure. Over-55s did best, at 55%.
Asked how often they buy, eat or drink something English to mark the day, 27% said always or often and 27% said never. Buying a gift for St George's Day is rarer still: 48% never do.
What Marcus says
Marcus Holland, founder of MadeInEngland.com:
"I couldn't name five English car makers, so I'm not going to judge anyone. But food is the thing we're actually world class at, and most of us couldn't pick a single producer out of a line-up. That isn't a quality problem. It's a marketing problem, and it's the one we set the business up to fix."
"The wasabi one gets me every time. There are people growing it in spring water in the south of England and nine in a hundred know. The other ninety-one think it comes in a tube."
Methodology
The research was conducted by Censuswide among a sample of 2,001 adults in England, nationally representative of those aged 18 and over. Fieldwork ran from 13 to 16 April 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society and the British Polling Council and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge, and abides by the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles. Survey reference J17714CWMP. Full results for all 20 questions.
Notes for editors
Full data tables, including breakdowns by gender, age, region and nearest city, are available on request. Charts and figures may be reproduced with credit to MadeInEngland.com. Marcus Holland, founder of MadeInEngland.com, is available for interview and further comment. Contact: marcus@madeinengland.com, 07983 818291.
