News article
9 August 2012
Food & Drink Industry Highlights Growth Potential At British Embassy Summit
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PRESS RELEASE
With the spotlight firmly on London during the Olympics, the Food and Drink
Federation (FDF) has been working with Government to highlight the strength of
UK
food and drink manufacturing and its potential for delivering sustainable
growth
through exports.
Along with member companies including Nestle, Coca Cola Enterprises and Kraft,
FDF attended today's 'Global Business Summit on Retail, Food and Drink' to
discuss key industry issues including global challenges, health and wellbeing
and
sustainability. The event will be followed this evening with a food and drink
showcase for international journalists in key export target countries. Food and
drink
is the UK's largest manufacturing industry with an annual turnover of £76.2
billion and employing over 400,000 people. The industry is expected to grow 20%
by
2020 and key to this will be UK brands' ability to export.
Food and drink exports rose for the seventh consecutive year in 2011, totalling
over £12.1billion. Whilst the EU nations remain the key customers, there have
been huge rises in exports to Eastern Europe and the Far and Middle East -
exports
to China rose over 50% between 2010 to 2011. The industry has been working with
Government partners on a strategy to ensure that UK food and drink companies
can
take advantage of a surge in interest in British products as diets become
increasingly Westernised and UK food is recognised for its quality and safety.
Amongst the companies seeing an increase in their exports is Quaker Oats, whose
manufacturing plant in Cupar, Scotland now exports over 50% of its output
abroad. Quaker has seen a 20% surge in exports to Saudi Arabia between
2006-2011 with
the oats being popular for use in traditional soups at Ramadan. In 2011, 90% of
sales were in the three months leading up to that period.
Another FDF member United Biscuits, has produced a product especially for the
Nigerian market. Its UK technical team worked closely with Unicef to develop
the
'Happy Faces' biscuit which is fortified with iron, iodine and calcium to
address
some of the nutritional deficiencies present in the population. It has also
enjoyed success with its long established McVitie's Digestive which is now the
top
selling breakfast biscuit in Italy – with around 8.3million packs sold in 2011.
FDF Director General Melanie Leech said: “We are delighted to be part of today's
summit to discuss the issues that are key to the vibrant and growing food and
drink industry. The discussion so far has highlighted many of the issues that
the
Food and Drink Federation has been addressing through its own industry action,
particularly the importance and growth of health and wellbeing and the need to
deliver our growth sustainably."
“I am pleased to hear of the appointment of Paul Walsh, CEO of Diageo plc as
Business Ambassador for the food and drink industries. Our small and medium
sized
companies to maximise their potential with overseas markets and his role will
help SMEs access global markets and grow their business overseas.”
Notes to Editors
- The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink
manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector. For more
information
about FDF and the industry we represent visit: www.fdf.org.uk
- Case studies on our key exporters are available at
http://www.fdf.org.uk/exports_growth.aspx
More information is available about United Biscuits and the Quaker Oats
export
success.
More information
Nicki Hunt on or 020 7420 7132 - nicki.hunt@fdf.org.uk
Rebecca Wilhelm or 020 7420 7140 - rebecca.wilhelm@fdf.org.uk
Avni Raval or 020 7420 7131 - Avni.Raval@fdf.org.uk
Anna Taylor or 020 7420 7118 - anna.taylor@fdf.org.uk
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