FMD a minor blip on thriving UK food and drink exports

Demand for British produce abroad has never been greater, according to latest research from market development consultancy Food from Britain. Figures for the period January to September 2007 reveal that UK food and drink exports were up 10 per cent on the same period in 2006, to reach £8,185.6m.

The Foot and Mouth outbreak of August 2007, which resulted in a ban on the transportation of British meat and livestock overseas, and threatened to damage the UK food and drink export industry, clearly did little to dampen spirits in the sector. Food exports alone were up nine per cent, accounting for £5,331.2m, while drinks were up 13 per cent to £2,854.4m, meaning the industry is on-track to break the predicted £11 billion record for the year.

“Although UK exporting suffered a setback with the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in August last year, it is a minor blip compared with the BSE crisis of the 1990s,” commented Chris Brockman, Research Manager at Food from Britain. “The restrictions imposed on the movement of meat and livestock were temporary measures, and in a recovering industry such as this, have had little impact. Overall, the UK food and drink industry is extremely robust and as predicted, has bounced back quickly to reveal yet another record year for exporting. We expect the picture will be the same when the final figures for the year-end are released and are confident that food and drink exports will break all previous records,” added Brockman.

Meaty growth

All major product categories recorded encouraging results, with meat in particular displaying very strong growth. Beef made a comeback to key European markets with international sales up 80 per cent to £96.1m. Exports were also up 35 per cent in the prepared meat category to £125.7m, while dried and salted meat sales increased by 81 per cent to £34.8m versus the same period in 2006.  Alcohol also displayed strong growth, up 15 per cent to £2,671,5m with whisky reaching just less than the two billion pound mark for the nine-month period.

Tea, coffee & cocoa presented a positive increase of 13.5 per cent when compared to the same period in 2006. In addition, prepared cereals, dairy, miscellaneous groceries, fruit and vegetables and confectionery all demonstrated strong results. Soft drinks (particularly flavoured) and smoked and fresh fish were the only sectors that experienced a decline, dipping by 13.8 per cent to £160.5m and 5.2 per cent to £355.3m respectively. International sales of flavoured soft drinks were down due to a decrease in six of the top eight markets, while a reduction in frozen fish sales to Russia, Holland and China and fresh fish to France, led to a reduction in this category as a whole.

All of the top 15 UK export markets put in a strong performance during the first three quarters of the year, with two exceptions. Food and drink exports to the USA declined by one per cent to £621m, largely down to the unfavourable exchange rate and price competition for UK ambient brands. Exports to Belgium / Luxemburg were also down 2.4 per cent to £229m, mainly due to a drop in the exports of fish, seafood and miscellaneous foods such as sauces and condiments. Among the top UK export markets, Spain, Greece and Germany registered the fastest growth in Europe, up 29.6 per cent, 27.9 per cent and 24.5 per cent, respectively.

Central Europe eats British

In the last nine months, there has been a particular breakthrough in selling British produce to the Central European markets. Across all industries, these countries offer huge potential for growth and food and drink is no exception. Growing demand for imported and premium products has seen exports to Estonia up 178 per cent to reach £33.1m, Slovakia increasing by 119 per cent to £5.7m, and Hungary among the leading players with sales up 33 per cent to £20.1m. In the Czech Republic and Latvia, British food and drink is also popular, with sales increasing by 19 per cent to £23.2m and 20 per cent to £8.5m respectively.

Outside of the EU, South East Asia demonstrated record growth, with exports to Singapore increasing by 80.9 percent, led strongly by whisky. “Whisky is a notoriously popular product outside of the EU, particularly in Asia,” said Brockman. “It is truly unique and as with the majority of our food and drink, there is a great deal of opportunity for manufacturers to explore. In this case, Asian retailers are making the most of the fact that whisky is a long-life product and buying in bulk, to ensure that in the future, supply can always meet demand."

Other success stories outside of Asia and Europe came from Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, Morocco and Algeria), rising by 12 per cent to achieve £182m, with South Africa driving overall growth by 22 per cent. Exports to South America and ‘Other Western Europe’ also both accounted for rises of around 11 per cent, while ‘Eastern Europe’, particularly Russia, registered a decline of 5.6 per cent over the period.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Food from Britain (FFB), the market development network for British food and drink companies which works in over 30 markets, helps build UK and international business for food and drinks manufacturers. FFB, funded by industry and government, works annually with 700 UK food and drink producers. For further information visit www.foodfrombritain.com.

UK exports of food and drink (£m) by country
January – September 2006–2007

		Jan-Sept2006	Jan-Sept 2007	% Change 06-07
1	Ireland	1447.7	1632.8	12.7%
2	France	983.9	999.8	1.6%
3	USA	628.3	621.0	-1.2%
4	Spain	464.0	601.7	29.6%
5	Germany	437.9	545.2	24.5%
6	Netherlands	379.3	411.7	8.5%
7	Italy	268.3	306.9	14.4%
8	Belgium/ Lux	234.6	229.0	-2.4%
9	Greece	112.6	144.1	27.9%
10	Singapore	72.6	131.4	80.9%
11	Denmark	111.5	131.3	17.7%
12	Canada	123.1	129.2	4.9%
13	South Korea	108.7	115.5	6.2%
14	Sweden	98.4	114.0	15.8%
15	South Africa	82.8	100.7	21.6%

 

31 March 2008