In a letter to all remaining Conservative leadership contenders, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has said that the industry “cannot be taken for granted” as manufacturers have been “relentlessly squeezed by the pandemic and its impacts, and now by the crisis in Ukraine.”
Chief executive of the FDF, Karen Betts, outlined the policies that the FDF would like to see implemented, that she claims will benefit food and drink manufacturing in the UK and ease the cost of living crisis.
The FDF list of potential policy changes include:
- Easing labour shortages, for skilled and unskilled labour
- Creating “agile ways” of supporting the sector to boost productivity
- Look again at VAT, business rates, R&D tax credits and the Apprenticeship levy, to help address rising costs
- Reducing the costs of regulation, which includes revising the Plastics Packaging Tax and the “huge administrative burden on businesses of all sizes” that is poses
- Redoubling efforts to maintain a functioning UK internal market.
Inflation continues to soar
The letter reads: “All our companies are doing everything they can to contain the impacts of inflation. We know we have a responsibility to provide good and affordable food, and we are cutting costs everywhere we can to limit price rises for shoppers.
“We are now in the tenth consecutive month of food price inflation. With the cost of ingredients and energy still rising relentlessly, companies in our sector think that food price inflation still has some way to run.”
