Beef exports on road to recovery, new figures reveal

The strongest performing UK export products are meat, dairy, spirits, cakes and biscuits, confectionery, soft drinks and breakfast cereals, according to the latest six-month figures from Food From Britain (FFB).

Chris Brockman, head of research and consultancy at the market development network, said some of the strongest growth was coming from “the rebounding meat market”. He added: “Beef is recovering from BSE in the 1990s, up 32% in January-June 2008 versus the same period last year, although it’s still only around the £200M mark, not where it was before the mid-1990s, at around £500-£600M.

“Another sector performing strongly is cheese, which is up 25% [in value]. UK territorial cheese is becoming increasingly recognised for the quality of the offer, especially in areas such as south east Asia, central and eastern Europe.” He said the value of the sector had more than doubled in the past year.

“Whisky accounts for a quarter of total UK exports [by value], with the spirits market growing at a healthy 14%,” said Brockman. “Cakes and biscuits are also doing very well, particularly speciality, top end products in emerging markets such as Russia.

“Breakfast cereals are up 15% [in value], primarily driven by premium, focused brands such as Dorset Cereals.”

Data covered the period from January to June this year. Overall figures showed robust growth, with exports up 15.5% in value, punching through the £6bn barrier. The markets showing the strongest growth were Hungary (+58%); Poland (53%); the Czech Republic (+46%); the Netherlands (+35%); South Korea (+21%) and Russia (+20%).

The weakness of the pound relative to other currencies such as the euro, was one of the big drivers behind the success of exports recently, said Brockman. “The weak pound is pushing the trend on, but it has been entrenched for several years now. In the past couple of years, even when the pound was stronger, we have still seen strong growth.”

He predicted that exports would show even more powerful growth in the six months from July to December, with the market set to exceed a record £13bn for the full year.