North drinks and seafood producers showing resilience

Seafood and drinks companies from the north and north-east of Scotland are recovering strongly from the pandemic with exports up 15% in 2021 to £5.7 billion, although numbers still remain down on pre-Covid levels.

The new UK Food and Drink Exports report from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) reveals the latest breakdown of exports from across the UK during last year.

FDF data shows exports of whisky rose 18.7% to £4.6bn, while those of salmon increased 20.6% to £735.6 million.

The recovery has been largely driven by a strong return to growth in exports of overall drinks and seafood products, with both up 16%.

Given the global strength of Scotch whisky exports, FDF Scotland says it is “unsurprising” that Scotland’s biggest export category is drinks, which makes up almost three-quarters of total consignments.

France is Scotland’s largest export partner, overtaking the US, with goods sent overseas now worth more than £1bn.

China numbers nearly doubled last year to almost £225m, making up 4% of Scotland’s food and drink exports.

The figures show Scotland, alongside Wales and the north-east of

England, had the strongest recovery in response to the supply chain problems caused by Covid and the new UK-EU trading relationship. Scotland accounts for the largest share of UK food and drink exports at almost 30% of total exports.

Scotland’s recovery has largely been driven by a strong growth in exports of beverages and seafood products, together accounting for £5.2bn of total Scottish exports.

FDF Scotland notes the country’s share of exports to non-EU markets is increasing and there are “opportunities to drive further export growth through new trade deals” with increased market access.

However, the association adds more can be done to improve the implementation of the UK-EU trade agreement to help companies recover exports in the EU alongside growing market share in other global markets.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not factored into the report and the full impact on the food and drink sector’s exports, as well as on the global supply chains on which the industries rely for some ingredients, such as vegetable oils, cereals and white fish, are still to be understood.