Following Liz Truss’s election as leader of the Conservative Party and the new British Prime Minister, trade bodies from across the UK food industry have welcomed her appointment but stressed the need for action on current cost of living pressures.
The British Frozen Food Federation’s (BFFF) has called for new prime minister to act immediately to address the cost of production crisis being faced by UK food manufacturers.
BFFF CEO Rupert Ashby said: “The new PM needs to address the soaring costs being faced by the UK’s food producers or risk many people going hungry this winter.
“There has rightly been a great deal of focus on the rising costs of energy, but less debate about the knock-on effects it is having on businesses that keep the country fed.”
He added: “Our members have been hit with a triple whammy of rising costs for ingredients, packaging and transport all of which are driving-up production costs, which will have to be passed onto consumers if they are to stay in business. This will drive up the cost of the weekly shop making feeding a family unaffordable for many people.”
Ashby called for the new premier to take the following action:
- Put in place a major support package that will reduce the price food producers are paying for energy
- Ease labour movement regulations to ensure that growers and food manufacturers can attract more seasonal and permanent staff to harvest and produce the food the country needs
- Permanently suspend proposed checks on EU goods entering the UK. The legislation has already been delayed four times and its introduction will only succeed in creating more costly delays for BFFF members importing ingredients
- Take action to fight climate change and improve the nation’s health by reducing the 4.5 million tonnes of edible food thrown away by UK households every year
- Reintroduce the red diesel rebate for auxiliary engines used to power transport food refrigeration units.
Ashby added: “We have already waited too long whilst the Conservatives chose their new leader. We cannot afford further delays or the winter ahead will be one of the most difficult the country has faced in many years.”
A change of direction needed
NFU Scotland President Martin Kennedy urged the new Prime Minister to immediately, on behalf of all consumers, address the brutal ‘here and now’ facing farming and food production whilst delivering “an unequivocable commitment” to the importance of food security across the UK in the future.
He said: “Unsustainable costs around the likes of electricity and fertiliser are creating a crisis of confidence around food production that government must tackle as a priority and set the conditions for a thriving farming sector that sees shelves stocked with nutritious, sustainably produced and affordable British food. That is what the public expect.”
Kennedy said that supporting domestic production and its standards means “a change of direction and industry engagement on trade policy.”
He explained: “Rather than agriculture being used as a pawn, we need an approach to trade policy that is fair and an agricultural policy that has production at its heart.”
