Asda has racked up sales of locally sourced produce worth £1bn over the past decade.

The supermarket announced the landmark 10 yeas to the day after it began working with local and ethnic suppliers.

Asda, which stocks around 6,000 products it classifies as being sourced locally, also unveiled “more than ambitious” plans to generate sales from local and ethnic suppliers of £500m a year by 2013.

“We’ve built our local business from a standing start to a £1bn success story,” said CJ Antal-Smith, category director on emerging markets.

“Looking ahead our plans are more than ambitious. We’re working with the some of the smallest UK suppliers to give them the opportunity to grow their business and at the same time increase the amount of local and ethnic products available to our customers.

“Big stores can do local in a big way.”

Tesco announced earlier this year it had broken the billion-pound barrier for sales of locally sourced products. That target was reached five years after the retail giant set up its first regional buying offices.

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Tesco local drive breaks billion-pound barrier (21 April 2011)