In a submission to a cross party Parliamentary group, the Provision Trade Federation (PTF) has set out that the UK Government “must take food supply more seriously”.
PTF is a trade association that represents sectors accounting for 20% of UK household food expenditure and 130,000 UK jobs. It represents processing, manufacturing and trading companies, and covers a range of staple provisions. It has presented its submission to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Food and Drink investigation into Food Supply Chain Resilience directly to its chair Mike Reader MP.
The PTF set out in its submission that “although the UK food and drink supply chain is exemplary in its ability to make enough food available to every citizen”, the UK – and the world – faces “unusual pressures” due to the conflict in the Ukraine, the Israel/Palestine conflict and the impact of climate change.
Director general of the Provision Trade Federation Rod Addy commented: “We greatly value the APPG Food and Drink looking into the fundamental issue of food supply chain resilience.
“We hear every day from our members across the UK that along with global conflicts, factors such as greatly inflated raw material and transport and energy prices in 2022-2024 are hitting consumers and businesses.
“These external shocks have challenged many long-standing assumptions about the inherent resilience of our supply chain models.”
In the submission, Addy set out key issues that the PTF said Government needs to address. These include the threat of cyber-attacks, climate change impacts, rising input costs, weak supporting infrastructure and labour and skills shortages.
Addy continued: “There are a number of real and current threats that must be addressed to strengthen UK food resilience. They include the lack of prioritisation of UK food production in Government policy and decision-making.
“With the threat of a national power outage, over-reliance on critical raw materials, over-dependence on a few big retailers for household food supply, disruption to the Panama Canal – a major food supply artery and another pandemic we really do need to see action from the Government now.”
The PTF submission also set out that Government “must take food supply more seriously” as one of the 14 critical national infrastructures, and must complete such a strategy in a timely manner, with appropriate action timelines in cooperation with the food industry.
Mike Reader MP commented: “The Provision Trade Federation’s submission shines a spotlight on some of the real challenges facing the UK’s food supply chain.
“Global instability, climate impacts, rising costs and skills shortages are all complex issues that require coordinated thinking and action. The Food and Drink APPG welcome’s this input by the PTF and looks forward to working with industry and Government to raise these concerns and help shape practical, long-term solutions that strengthen the UK’s food resilience.”
