Food and Drink Industry Report 2020
The Food and Drink Federation and Santander have launched a new report highlighting the growth opportunities and challenges for the food and drink sector for 2020.
The Food and
Drink Industry Report 2020 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. Santander's
export team provides analysis of the potential and challenges around each
territory together with
essential information for any company considering trading with these harder to
reach markets.
The report highlights other important issues for the industry including
increasing automation. The
recent 'Made Smarter Review highlighted a potential £55.8bn value to the sector
over the coming
decade through digital technology adoption but pointed out that food and drink
lags behind other
manufacturing industries.
Sustainable packaging and diet and health are also highlighted in the report as
areas where
industry is committed to making a difference, working alongside or ahead of
Government to drive
change.
FDF Foreword
These are testing times for food and drink manufacturing businesses.
A heightened focus on the role of plastics in food packaging is likely to
mean tougher regulation. Similarly, concerns about health and obesity rates
already mean that UK manufacturers face significant challenges from government
(and there is much more to come).
Finally, I fear our future trading relationship with
the EU will continue to be overshadowed by uncertainty for a long time to come.
When the going gets tough, it's important above
all to have good friends you can count on. FDF's
purpose - our mission - is to be that good friend to
food and drink businesses.
Santander is
certainly
a very good friend to FDF.
Our partnership enables us to extend the reach
and quality of our services to FDF members and
Santander customers alike. Santander experts
offer us wise counsel and access to their extensive
network of contacts. We have learned a great deal
from them and, I hope, the obverse is true too.
Though their expertise is wide-ranging, Santander
offers a particular capability around exports. As you
will see in this report, UK food and drink
exports
have been a singular success in recent years,
achieving strong (in some cases double-digit)
year-on-year growth. But we start from a relatively
low base, in that only around one-in-five of our
food and drink businesses are exporters. In some
competitor markets, that proportion is much higher.
Encouraging more businesses to overcome their
concerns about exporting is a high priority for FDF
and for Santander. We are seeking to persuade
the Government to invest (alongside us) in more
specialist support to help companies take advantage
of more export opportunities. We know that the
world loves the provenance, impeccable quality and
fabulous taste of UK food and drink, so now is the
time to seize that opportunity.
It is a great pleasure to work with Santander and I
commend this paper to you.
Ian Wright, CBE
Chief Executive, FDF
Santander Foreword
Santander is delighted to be associated with the FDF and its Industry
Review paper. The report provides a crucial insight into the current
sentiment felt by those operating in the sector.
We're at a delicate moment in the UK's economic
cycle. With Brexit on the near horizon, the UK's
food and drink industry will be a vital element of
business and output in the UK, both domestically
and internationally.
The food and drink industry is the UK's largest
manufacturing sector, contributing £31.1bn to
the economy annually and employing 450,000
people. It is a key part of the nation's £121
billion 'farm to fork' food chain.
Our industry is critical to national security and the
prosperity of our wider economy and a well-earned
global reputation for provenance, quality and innovation.
The challenges we face in the next few years
are unparalleled and the market environment
in which we operate remains uncertain. We're
aware that the challenges include a changing
consumer landscape, pressures on margins, Brexit,
sustainability, nutrition and the continual need to
invest in technology and innovation.
However, this is a resilient and adaptable industry with
huge opportunities available to our sector, so that we
can sell more great British food and drink. Therefore,
it is key that we identify how best to harness our own
growth potential and improve productivity.
This report
focuses on five core areas – International
trade, innovation, skills, packaging and regulatory
changes – all which provide both challenges and
opportunities.
Santander is fully committed to supporting food and
drink manufacturers and has a dedicated sector
team and specialist relationship teams working
closely with professional organisations such as
the FDF and DIT. We want to assist the industry to
seize opportunities, maximise growth and boost
productivity. We believe the food and drink industry
can be an engine for economic growth in the UK,
while continuing to provide safe, innovative and
nutritious food and drink to the nation.
Andrew Williams
Head of Food & Drink Sector
Santander
Full Report
Download the full Food and Drink Industry Report 2020
Our Industry at a Glance
Last reviewed: 13 Jan 2020