International producer of meat, meat products and plant-based alternatives, Vion, has met with local MP Kevin McKenna and the Provision Trade Federation (PTF) to share its views on the challenges facing the food industry.

Vion has its UK HQ in Sittingbourne, and has production locations in the Netherlands and Germany. Its country manager for the UK and Ireland, Nick Behari, met with Kevin McKenna MP with Rod Addy, PTF director general.

Rod Addy, director general of the PTF, highlighted that PTF members accounted for 20% of UK household expenditure on food and supported around 130,000 jobs across the UK: “We were pleased to meet with Kevin and hear of his support for local business and local employees in what is one the UKs most fundamental sectors.

“We were keen to stress that businesses such as Nick’s have seen costs for energy, wages, National Insurance and packaging disposal soar in the past two to three years. They have also been contending with more expensive bills for importing. Even strong businesses are feeling the pinch and are struggling to avoid passing those costs on in the form of higher food prices in shops and restaurants.”

The topic of health and wellness was also raised and the essential role of high-quality meat consumption in delivering a full profile of amino acids, as well as iron, selenium, B vitamins and zinc.

Addy continued: “Kevin has key roles on both Health and Sustainable Resources cross party parliamentary groups and with his background of working in health we wanted to make sure the views and concerns of our members were raised directly with him.

“In the interests of our dairy members, we also set out the potential impact of the Government’s changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) and the unintended consequences of penalising products that contain essential nutrients, such as milk drinks.”

The meeting also covered the importance of safeguarding food resilience and food security and the essential role importers play in that process.