The Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) chief executive, Karen Betts, gave a warning to the UK government and British shoppers during the organisation’s annual conference.
Addressing an audience at the National Gallery in London, Betts said: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a genuine geopolitical, energy and commodity shock [that] will have serious ramifications for us all, across Europe and globally.”
Betts added that President Putin’s assault on Ukraine will have serious ramifications in the UK including “rising costs, rising inflation and unpredictable supply chains” that will mean food price rises are now “inevitable”.
In her speech, Betts addressed the effects of the war already being felt within the supply chain. Energy prices are soaring while shortages of sunflower oil and wheat are causing huge spikes in global market prices. These impacts, Betts explained, are hitting an industry only just starting to recover from the strains of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She called on the UK government to act now to ease the supply chain pressures on food and drink companies and support the millions of households already vulnerable to the mounting cost-of-living crisis.
Betts also asked ministers to “react quickly and with greater flexibility” for when ingredients become unavailable; called for a National Food Security Council to enable industry and Whitehall to react in real time to supply chain impacts; and requested a review of all upcoming regulation to avoid unnecessary costs being placed on businesses and ultimately shoppers.
Keynote speaker: George Eustice MP
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) George Eustice MP was also in attendance. As part of his keynote speech, Eustice thanked the industry for its hard work over the course of the pandemic, particularly over periods of ‘panic buying’ when supply was in high demand.
He underlined that the importance of imposing sanctions on Russian goods and outlined some of the humanitarian efforts that the UK government was currently involved in.
Eustice addressed the current and forthcoming impacts on the price and supply of certain commodities as result of the Ukraine conflict. He stated that the UK could expect to see more of an impact on price than supply of commodities such as sunflower oil and wheat.
According to Eustice, this is because the UK has around 200 million tonnes of wheat stored across the country, to be used in case of emergency. Disruption to the imports of these high-risk commodities is also manageable, with around 20% of sunflower oil used in the UK imported from Ukraine.
Addressing price rises, the Minister went onto quote research from IGD that predicted food inflation will reach 6-8% over the summer. He added that the government is working to manage the impacts of high inflation on the supply chain and wider population.
He concluded by stating that “the world must stand resolutely together” in tackling the unprecedented challenges faced by the industry.
