Local MP and chair of influential food and drink group hears that UK has ‘no coordinated food resilience plan.’

The Provision Trade Federation (PTF), which represents sectors accounting for 20% of UK household food expenditure and 130,000 UK jobs, has set out in a submission to an influential cross party Parliamentary group, Chaired by local Member of Parliament Mike Reader, that the UK Government must take food supply more seriously.

The PTF, a food trade association representing processing, manufacturing and trading companies and which cover a wide range of staple provisions has presented its submission to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Food and Drink investigation into Food Supply Chain Resilience direct to its Chair Mike Reader MP.

The PTF sets out in its submission that although the UK food and drink supply chain is exemplary in its ability to make enough food available to every citizen, the UK – and indeed the world – faces unusual pressures due to the conflict in the Ukraine, the Israel/Palestine conflict and the impact of climate change.

“We greatly value the APPG Food and Drink looking into the fundamental issue of food supply chain resilience.” said Director General of the Provision Trade Federation Rod Addy. “We hear every day from our members across the UK that along with global conflicts, factors such as greatly inflated raw material and transport and energy prices in 2022-2024 are hitting consumers and businesses.”

“These external shocks have challenged many long-standing assumptions about the inherent resilience of our supply chain models.” he added.

In a comprehensive submission, Addy sets out key issues that the Government needs to address. These include the threat of cyber-attacks, climate change impacts, rising input costs, weak supporting infrastructure and labour and skills shortages.

“There are a number of real and current threats to that must be addressed to strengthen UK food resilience.” Rod Addy writes in the submission. “They include the lack of prioritisation of UK food production in government policy and decision-making.”

“With the threat of a national power outage, over-reliance on critical raw materials, over-dependence on a few big retailers for household food supply, disruption to the Panama Canal – a major food supply artery and another pandemic we really do need to see action from the Government now.”

The PTF submission also sets out that Government must take food supply more seriously as one of the 14 critical national infrastructures and must complete such a strategy in a timely manner, with appropriate action timelines in cooperation with the food industry.

"The Provision Trade Federation’s submission shines a spotlight on some of the real challenges facing the UK’s food supply chain.” said Mike Reader MP.

“Global instability, climate impacts, rising costs and skills shortages are all complex issues that require coordinated thinking and action. The Food and Drink APPG welcome's this input by the PTF and looks forward to working with industry and government to raise these concerns and help shape practical, long-term solutions that strengthen the UK’s food resilience." he said.

The Food and Drink APPG role in Parliament is to debate the policy priorities and issues related to the UK’s food and drink sector. It is Chaired by Mike Reader, MP for Northampton South and Amanda Hick, MP for North West Leicestershire is Vice Chair. Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, a Conservative Life Peer is the groups Secretary.

The group has an aim to promote dialogue and discussion between industry and politicians through a series of policy roundtables, events and site visits.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal, cross-party groups formed by MPs and Members of the House of Lords who share a common interest in a particular policy area, region or country.