She told
The Blackpool Lead: “The Chinese rock is coming in and it’s affecting all our businesses. At the seaside, whether it’s Blackpool or Brighton, it’s traditional. People associate rock as a traditional British product.
“People are importing it from China. I’ve gone from 14 staff to six. Normally at this time of year, I would have 14 staff, now I’ve got six.”
“I just feel if we could protect the wording, it would make it a little harder for them to take it away from us. We know we can’t stop them from making it, but we can make it harder for them.”
“It’s about making the public aware that when they think they’re buying granny a stick of British mint rock, it’s nothing like it. It’s rubbish. We aerate the rock to make the holes in the middle, theirs isn’t aerated. It’s solid. It’s nowhere near as good.”
Anita says the impact of the imports will not fully be seen until after the summer is finished but the firm is already reeling from the loss of its biggest customer. The company, based in the South East, supplies various shops with rock products and previously accounted for around 50% of McAdams’ sales but is now importing a cheaper version.
The wave of Chinese imports has already had an impact on other products but Anita fears cheap imitations of rock could be the final blow for the industry.
“They wiped me out with the dummies. I used to do dummy lanyards and they wiped me out. I don’t even make them anymore. Lollipops have slowed down for us and now they’ve gone for the rock. This is what’s going to wipe out the factories.”
Anita fears that without intervention, an industry which is already struggling against rising energy bills and higher wage costs could be driven out within four years.
She added: “It’s electricity, it’s gas, it’s minimum wage going up. We’ve had to put up our prices and this is why they’ve gone to China. They get them for 9p landed, Blackpool rock cannot make that product for less than 13p.”
When the letter was published, it led to publicity which included David appearing on BBC Breakfast, businessman Dave Fishwick rallying for the cause on ITV, and articles published in publications ranging from Mail Online to the Guardian to CNN.
What hadn’t followed was public support from any of the MPs who were called upon by the confectioners.
Chris Webb was elected as Blackpool South’s new MP this month, replacing the disgraced Scott Benton, and he has pledged to support the rock makers.He joined them when TV cameras visited Blackpool pre-election and, one week after winning a landslide victory, told The Lead that he will continue to fight for them.
The new MP has been in regular contact with David and plans to visit him this week, as well as having discussed the issue with Shadow Business Secretary Johnny Reynolds and Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Maynard.
He said: “I’ve said that I’ll raise it in Parliament to see what kind of support we can get. It’s important for local jobs, for the heritage.
“Blackpool rock is famous across the world for its quality. These imports have got nothing on it.”
A spokesperson for DEFRA told The Blackpool Lead: “We are committed to supporting our food producers so they can produce and sell more at home and across the world.
“Businesses can apply to protect a product name and add it to our UK Geographical Indicator scheme. All applications are carefully assessed to determine whether they meet the requirements of the scheme.”
Sign our petition now to call for DEFRA to act to save Blackpool rock.
