Britain’s food and drink exports are remaining resilient during the recession – with total UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports for last year maintaining their value of 12.1bn, according to the Food and and Drink Federation (FDF).
Britain’s food and drink exports maintained their value of 12.1bn last year
The top three growth categories were: chocolate, which rose by 19.3% to 524M; coffee, which climbed by 9.7% to reach 148M; and sauces and condiments, up by 8.9% to 227M, compared with 2011.
The top three export destinations for UK food and drink were Saudi Arabia, up by 35.2% to 118M, the United Arab Emirates, up by 24.9% to 153M and Sweden, which climbed by 16.5% to 198M on the previous year.
‘Very tough trading year’
The FDF’s economic and commercial services director, Steve Barnes, said: “Despite a very tough trading year, food and drink exports remain resilient. Last year’s poor UK harvest and the continued contraction of key EU markets have both had a significant impact on overall performance.
“Nevertheless, food and drink manufacturers have continued to make strong in-roads abroad, travelling further afield to drive sales of great British-made products. At a time when other sectors are struggling to find demand overseas, this achievement should be applauded and encouraged.”
‘Other key trends’
Other key trends were growth in exports of value-added food products – up by 3.7%. But that was counterbalanced by sharp falls in some of the UK’s largest commodity categories, such as cereals, which fell by 27.9%.
Last year’s poor UK harvest impacted heavily on the supply of grain available for export. The value of cereal exports fell by 160M in the fourth quarter alone, compared with the same period of 2011.
The statistics revealed a further contraction of 1.4% in exports to the 27 EU Member States. That was offset by continued growth to non-EU markets, up by 4.6%.
Overall, exports from other UK industry sectors fell by 4.5%.