Food firms back government export plan

Food firms embraced the news following agriculture minister Jim Paice’s announcement today (January 27) of the formation of the new Farming, Food and Drinks Export Action Plan, designed to support the industry’s trade with high growth economies.

The plan will support companies by offering access to a wide range of advice at ministerial and ambassadorial level. Another key theme is to advertise the financial safeguards to protect smaller firms from not being paid.

Shared ambition​

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) director general, Melanie Leech said: “Food and drink is one of the UK's key growth sectors and our shared ambition with government is to grow the sector by 20% by 2020 across both the domestic market and exports.​

“The core of food and drink manufacturing is small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and it can be difficult for these companies to access the help and support that they need to take that first step to export. Therefore the opportunity to work in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has been embraced by industry​.”

Leech praised the plan for containing “many common-sense actions that can be taken forward in a relatively short timescale to deliver results as well as those initiatives that are more complex and longer term”.​

The FDF will review the plan’s progress after a year and hoped it would make a “significant contribution​” to what has already been a record year of exports for the industry.

Food and drink exports were valued at £10.8bn in 2010 and are expected to reach almost £12bn when official 2011 figures are released in March, according to Leech.

Paice said that there were “huge opportunities​” for British firms wanting to tap into emerging markets, due because of the surging world population and a demand for western products.

Economic recovery​

“I’m convinced the sector can become an engine for growth for our economic recovery,​” he said.

“It’s crucial we get the right support to business at home as well as championing British products abroad.”​

The plan has been developed by DEFRA, along with UKTI, industry trade associations and top exporting companies. A forum for the plan was co-chaired by Paice and Nestlé UK chairman, Paul Grimwood.

Grimwood said: “Thousands of UK food companies, large and small, can grow their business by exploring export opportunities. The government-backed export plan will champion open markets and the removal of trade barriers. It will also provide SMEs with the support and confidence they need​.”

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has also welcomed the plan, describing it as “vital​” in terms of improving international competitiveness.

Chief executive Tom Taylor said: “Faced with the challenges of less support through the Common Agricultural Policy in the future, UK agriculture needs all the tools in the box to secure its competitiveness. Where export markets offer potentially better returns for products that have low demand in the UK, we should be taking full advantage of them.​”