Food and drink exports remain resilient
18 March 2013
Food and drink exports remain resilient
Today, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has reported that total UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports remained at £12.1bn in 2012 – in line with the 2011 figure.
Strong growth in exports of value added food products (+3.7%) was counterbalanced by sharp falls in some of the UK's largest commodity categories, such as cereals (-27.9%). Last year's poor UK harvest impacted heavily on the supply of grain available for export – in Q4 alone, the value of cereal exports fell by £160m (compared to Q4 2011).
Further contraction in exports to the EU27 (-1.4%) was again counterbalanced by continued growth to non-EU markets, up by 4.6%.
Despite staying at 2011 levels, food and drink exports remain resilient compared to exports from other UK industry sectors, which fell by 4.5% overall.
Report Highlights
Categories showing growth:
- Chocolate: +19.3% to £524m
- Sweet Biscuits: +2.7% to £279m
- Sauces & Condiments: +8.9% to £227m
- Cakes: +7.9% to £200m
- Coffee: +9.7% to £148m
- Saudi Arabia: +35.2% to £118m
- United Arab Emirates: +24.9% to £153m
- Sweden: +16.5% to £198m
- Australia: +12.6% to £114m
- China: +11% to £110m
FDF's Economic and Commercial Services Director, Steve Barnes, commented:
“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.”
Note 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.
- Full export figures – collected by FDF from HMRC . These show breakdowns by product category and market.
- Case studies are also available featuring successful British exporters
More information
For media enquiries, please contact:
Rebecca Wilhelm or 020 7420 7140 Email: rebecca.wilhelm@fdf.org.uk
Avni Raval or 020 7420 7131 Email: Avni.Raval@fdf.org.uk
Anna Taylor on 0207 420 7118 Email: anna.taylor@fdf.org.uk
For FDF's policy positions and background on key issues, go to our Policy section.
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