The i newspaper is the latest mainstream media outlet to highlight the current challenges faced by farmers and growers as costs rise but farm gate prices fail to keep pace.
Under a headline ‘British cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots will soon be harder to buy. Here’s why’ the newspaper explained that farmers are turning to less labour-intensive crops (such as wheat or oilseed rape) or selling land.
Roger Hobson, chairman of the British Carrot Association, warned that reliance on imports will grow as more producers quit the industry. “More people than I’ve ever known are considering selling their land,” he said. “Growers are thinking, ‘Why are we doing this?’” Mr Hobson added this was especially true of older farmers, for whom early retirement has become an increasingly attractive option.
The article came as the IGD predicted that food and drink inflation in the UK has not yet peaked. It claims food and drink inflation will reach a peak rate of 17% – 19% year-on-year in early 2023, before slowing over the following 12 months.
James Walton, chief economist at IGD, commented, “There is no doubt about it that this is a daunting prospect for both households and businesses. Already we can see the food industry pulling together and retailers putting themselves in the shoes of shoppers to understand how best they can support them during this difficult time.”
Meanwhile another industry body, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), has says that confidence among its members is at an all-time low. Companies have seen input costs increase by an average of 21% over the past 12 months, with a similar rise expected next year.
The FDF said that in the first eight months of 2022, there were more insolvencies in the food and drink industry than during the whole of 2019.