31 Aug 2018 --- The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is calling on the government to provide greater support for UK food and drink manufacturers to compete with European rivals. The calls come following the latest export statistics which show that in the first half of 2018, UK exports of all food and drink hit £10.68 billion (US$13.9), up 5.1 percent on the same period in 2017. This was led by growth to the European Union’s 27 member states with exports to EU countries (+7.3 percent) growing at a faster rate than those to non-EU countries (+1.6 percent).