Britain Targets 75 Percent of Extra Food and Drink Exports to Come From Outside EU

19 Oct 2016 --- The government is aiming to increase British food and drink exports by £2.9bn ($3.6bn) by 2020, with only around a quarter of exports targeted at countries inside the EU.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has pinpointed nine key markets across 19 countries for growth over the next five years, as the UK gears up to exit the EU.

Only two EU markets, Germany and France, are pinpointed in the new International Action Plan for Food and Drink, which has been launched by the Environment Secretary Andrew Leadsom, a firm advocate of the UK leaving the EU.

The other key markets identified are Australia & New Zealand; China; Japan; India; USA & Canada; Mexico & Latin America and the UAE & the Gulf.

In 2015, the UK exported around £18b ($22bn) worth of food and drink products and imported around £39bn ($48bn).

Leadsom said: “With over £10 billion ($12bn) worth of food and drink sold overseas in the last seven months and exports up almost six per cent compared to 2015, there is no doubt we are open for business and ready to trade.”

“Our food and drink is renowned for having the very best standards of animal welfare, quality and safety and I want even more of the world to enjoy what we have to offer.”

“Scottish salmon, Welsh beef, Northern Irish whiskey and English cheese are already well-known globally and I want us to build on this success by helping even more companies send their top quality food and drink abroad.”

Key targets include an extra £185m ($228m) in exports to Japan through demand for British products like tea, jam and biscuits and new opportunities for British beef as well as an additional £293m ($361m) of exports to Australia and New Zealand by selling products such as beer and cider.

A further £215m ($265m) export boost in Mexico and Latin America is targeted through growing demand for a wide range of British products including whisky and gin.

The UK is also targeting an extra £132m ($162m) of exports to France, driven by sales of lamb, beer, seafood, whisky and convenience food.

In Germany, it has pinpointed an extra £610m ($751m) in areas such as free-from, vegan and organic foods as well as beer, cider and wine. The government also alluded to Germany hosting the Anuga food and drink trade show, where it could showcase its wares.

Defra pointed out that currently only one in five food and drink companies in the UK export and that exports only deliver 19 percent of turnover of the food and drink manufacturing industry.

Defra said: “To maximise the potential of the UK industry we need to see more companies exporting and those that are exporting doing so even more successfully.”

The plan has received buy-in from the Food and Drink Federation. Ian Wright, Director General of the Food and Drink Federation, said: “We are supporting the Government’s export drive with an ambition to grow branded food and drink exports by a third by 2020 to £6 billion ($7.4bn).”

“Export growth is hugely important to our sector. We hope that the International Action Plan for Food and Drink will open more channels and provide direct support to new and existing food and drink exporters.”