The Scotsman

Surge in UK food and drink exports shrugs off Brexit

Exported goods now account for 15% of the UK sector’s overall revenues

- MARTIN FLANAGAN

By Britain’s food and drink industry is shrugging off Brexit fears through a surge in exports that is expected to continue, a new report out yesterday said.

Exports now account for 15 per cent of food and drink manufactur­ers’ business, said the report from GSI UK, the supply chain and data standards organisati­on.

That is up from 11 per cent five years ago, and GSI UK noted: “Companies expect this to rise to 23 per cent by 2023, banishing Brexit worries.”

The organisati­on said its survey of its members across the food and drink sector – the UK’S biggest manufactur­ing industry – found that the export of goods had jumped 12 per cent in the year to 17 November.

Alcoholic drinks exceeded the broader average with an exports’ uptick of 16 per cent, said the report – Brits Abroad: UK Food & Drink Exports in 2018.

Scotch whisky is understood to have been a major contributo­r, traditiona­lly accounting for about one quarter of overall UK food and drink exports.

“With various estimates placing total UK food and drink exports around the £22 billion mark in 2017, this 12 per cent increase represents approximat­ely £2.6bn of additional transactio­ns,” the report said.

Gary Lynch, chief executive officer of GS1 UK, said: “British produce remains a byword for excellence around the world and our food and drink is exported to the four corners of the globe.

“With official government figures showing that £22bn of it was sent overseas in 2017, there is clearly a lasting taste for British products and our members have optimistic expectatio­ns for the coming years.”

Lynch said that Scotch whisky and salmon were “very much our export staples, but the thirst for our beer and gin also continues to intensify”.

Yesterday’s report said the most significan­t rise was among non-alcoholic drinks and beverages, where exports made up 22 per cent of transactio­ns.

A standout was UK soft drinks maker Fever-tree, which had “become the figurehead for this sub-sector and now distribute­s to more than 60 companies internatio­nally”.

The report added: “The ongoing Brexit negotiatio­ns and uncertaint­y around what trade deals Britain may strike in the coming months hasn’t filtered down to homegrown food and drink businesses either, with confidence around exports remaining defiant.”

It said less than one in three food and drink manufactur­ers polled in the survey “were fearful of a decrease in exports to the EU in particular”.

On the jump in exports, Lynch said it was “not just the usual Anglospher­e suspects” in terms of countries importing from the UK.

He said data from the Food & Drink Federation showed that “the fastest-growing markets include the Philippine­s, Latvia, Iceland, South Korea and Romania”.

mflanagan@scotsman.com

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