The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has said that it is "vital" for Government to work with the food sector to help mitigate the effects of food inflation and to further slow inflation rates.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that August was the third month in a row to see inflation rates drop. In the year to August, inflation decreased to 6.7% from the July rate of 6.8%.
The destruction of Ukraine grain ports contributed to the sharp increase in grain costs, which remain high according to ONS. However, milk, cheese and vegetables all dropped in price.
Karen Betts, the chief executive of the FDF said: “It’s encouraging to see food and drink price inflation fall again this month to 13.6%. However, it remains at historically high levels and our industry is very conscious of the pressure this is putting on household budgets.
"It’s vital that Government continues to work with our sector to ensure food and drink price inflation continues to fall, including by reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens."
Karen Betts, FDF chief executive.
“The reason inflation has not yet fallen further is because the costs of food production remain high, including ingredients, energy, transport and labour. While commodity prices are generally falling, they remain 22% higher than they were pre-pandemic, with persistent inflation in some, like sugar and olive oil.
“Food and drink manufacturers continue to do all they can to keep prices down for consumers while paying a fair price to their suppliers. The pressure on businesses in our sector is very visible in the high rate of insolvencies in the first half of 2023, which were 132% higher than during the whole of 2019.
“It’s vital that Government continues to work with our sector to ensure food and drink price inflation continues to fall, including by reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens. In particular, cumbersome new ‘not for EU’ labelling plans under the Windsor Framework need a pragmatic alternative if we’re to avoid significant, unnecessary costs being placed on already stretched businesses.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
