Economics publications
FDF's economic reporting is a key avenue for ensuring that the economic importance of the UK food and drink industry is widely recognised, as well as its potential for growth and productivity improvements.
Regular reports
Business confidence reports
Latest publication November 2020
The FDF's business confidence reports showcase the current economic views of FDF
members
on a quarterly basis.
Download Q3 2020 Business Confidence
Report
View previous reports
Export snapshots
Latest publication October 2020
FDF publishes quarterly reports outlining the latest UK food and drink export
statistics, which can
help your company to prioritise markets for exporting. Our reports include:
data
on the UK's top food
and drink exports, key export markets, areas for growth, and updates on FDF's
trade-related policy
work.
Download H1 2020 Exports Snapshot
View
previous reports
Publications
Five steps to export success post COVID-19 and EU Exit transition
Published October 2020
Food and drink exports are a UK success story. Reaching nearly £24 billion in
2019, they have
grown every year since 2015. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly
impacted our
industry.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA)
and the
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) are committed to
supporting the recovery of
UK food and drink exports and have devised this 5-step guide to export success
post COVID-19 and
EU Exit transition.
View online: Five steps to export
success post COVID-19 and EU Exit transition
Download full report
Food and Drink Interim Industry Report
Published September 2020
We are delighted to launch the Food and Drink Interim Industry Report 2020 in
partnership with
Santander.
This report shows that despite business confidence falling to record lows across
the food and
drink industry in Q2, overseas export markets remain a key opportunity for
growth, particularly as we
enter post-COVID-19 recovery.
The report focusses on key markets that have been identified as having potential
for growth: the
UAE & Gulf region, China, and the USA & Canada.
View
online: Food and Drink Interim Industry Report 2020
Download full report
Food and Drink Industry Report 2020
Published December 2019
We are delighted to launch the Food and Drink Industry Report 2020 in
partnership with
Santander.
This report highlights the growth opportunities and challenges for the food and
drink sector for
2020.
The report looks in particular at exports and the developing markets of China,
India Japan, UAE
and USA, all of which have seen considerable year-on-year growth.
View
online: Food and Drink Industry Report 2020
Download full report
Preparing for a Changing Workforce
Published October 2019
Access to skills is a growing problem across the sector, and according to the
Food and Drink
Sector Council's Preparing for a Changing Workforce Report, the majority of
companies expect the
situation to become more difficult, as we see record lows in unemployment
(3.8%), parts of the
industry where one third of workers could retire in the next 15-17 years and a
forecasted 120,000
fewer migrants overall by 2023.
This report outlines the future workforce and skills needs of the UK food and
drink sector, and
has brought together the entire supply chain to develop key recommendations for
both government
and industry that will deliver a real step change.
View online:
Preparing for a
changing workforce
Download full report
Breaking the Chain
Published August 2017
Key workforce considerations for the UK food and drink supply chain as we leave
the EU. Survey
to establish the supply chain's Brexit priorities from a labour and workforce
perspective and to
address some of the gaps in official data.
Download full report: Breaking the Chain
View summary: Breaking the Chain report
Economic contribution and growth opportunities
Published July 2017
This FDF-commissioned industry-wide report by Grant Thornton has highlighted key
growth
opportunities for the food and drink industry, the UK's largest manufacturing
sector.
View Grant Thornton report