Today the Food and Drink Federation’s Chief Executive is expected to give a stark warning to the UK Government and British shoppers during her organisation’s annual conference.
Karen Betts believes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a genuine geopolitical, energy and commodity shock that will have serious ramifications across Europe and globally.
She predicts President Putin’s assault on Ukraine will lead to rising costs, rising inflation and unpredictable supply chains that will mean food price rises are now inevitable.
“The effects of the war are already being felt in the supply chain. Energy prices are soaring while shortages of sunflower oil and wheat are causing huge spikes in global market prices. These impacts are hitting an industry only just starting to recover from the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
The chief executive will use her speech to call on the UK Government to act now to ease the supply chain pressures on food and drink companies and support the millions of vulnerable households already suffering from the mounting cost-of-living crisis.
Ms Betts will ask ministers to react quickly and with greater flexibility for when ingredients become unavailable; will call for a National Food Security Council to enable industry and Whitehall to react in real time to supply chain impacts; and to urgently review all upcoming regulation to avoid unnecessary costs being placed on businesses and ultimately shoppers, claiming “the UK Government was once a beacon for the better regulation agenda – it should strive to be so again.”
There will also be a message to the food and drink sector itself. The FDF’s chief executive will tell its members that it is “critical for our industry’s long-term growth and success, and to the economy more broadly” that they continue to invest in productivity and growth.
She will set out the case for more money to be spent on skills, new technology and more sustainable products, while the manufacturers must not lose sight of their Net Zero ambition and endeavour to seize new trade opportunities.
