The UK food and beverage sector saw a 29% drop in mergers and acquisitions deal volume and a 90% decline in deals by the second transaction date of the year, when compared with the same period in the prior year.

The winners of the 2022 Meat Management Meat Industry Awards were announced on Thursday evening 15th September at a black-tie dinner and ceremony hosted by globally recognised entertainer Paul Zerdin, held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

UK retailer Asda has restricted the purchase of its budget food range, ‘Just Essentials’, to a maximum of three of each product per customer to ensure the products are available to “as many customers as possible.”

Commenting on the company’s interim results, chief executive Philip Heffer of Hilton Foods plc said the protein processor “has not been immune” to the impact of heightened inflation.

UK food manufacturers faced higher prices for their ingredients in August, with ingredients produced in the UK being 17% more expensive (down from 18.4% in July) and imported ingredients are 24.8% dearer (up from 23.9% in July).

Job openings in the food and drink sector continue to increase, with manufacturers adding 3,000 jobs in the Q2, bringing the total number of jobs in the sector to 478,000. However, vacancy rates remain high.