The news the European Commission is planning to spend EUR200m (US$221.4m) promoting EU food products in markets such as the US and China brings home the degree of competition UK producers will face in export markets post-Brexit, says GlobalData.
According to the Commission, more than half of the budget (EUR118m) will go towards campaigns pursuing markets outside the EU identified as having high-growth potential, such as Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the US.
Andy Coyne, Food Correspondent at GlobalData, says: “These are surely some of the same markets that, post-Brexit, UK food producers will also be targeting and the size of the European Commission’s marketing budget will be quite daunting.
“Whereas previously we might have expected products such as Stilton cheese and Welsh lamb to have been promoted under a marketing push of this kind, they will, after Brexit, be in competition with cheese and meat from the Continent.
“Whichever party comes to power in next month’s UK General Election will have to have deep pockets to compete with the neighbouring trading bloc in food product marketing terms.
“The trade agreements already in place between the EU and countries such as China mean the UK will be playing catch-up once it goes it alone.”
