Concerns are growing among UK food and drink businesses about the country’s ability to meet the challenges facing its food system, according to new research released by Tetra Pak.
Six in ten (61%) businesses said the UK food system is not well prepared to meet the challenges of the next decade. Meanwhile, almost seven in ten (69%) agreed that the future of food security will depend as much on advances in food manufacturing and processing as on advances in agricultural production. The ability of the food system to withstand conflict, disruption to global trade, extreme weather and higher energy costs whilst ensuring nutritional value is protected and prices are affordable for consumers were all cited as concerns of those surveyed when it came to UK food security.
This striking new polling on the views of UK business leaders in the food and beverage sector forms part of a new report from Tetra Pak, released today. It calls for UK politicians to take the role of advanced manufacturers seriously in efforts to secure the food country’s food system resilience, making several recommendations to policy makers.
The report, Food Fit For The Future: How Advanced Manufacturing Can Make Our Food System More Affordable, Healthy, Sustainable and Secure, makes the case for the introduction of a Food Security Test to radically change the way policymakers see the stability of the food system. It would require governments to consider whether major policy changes strengthen or weaken food availability, access, utilisation and stability. This will in turn help to identify unintended consequences where measures affecting one part of the food system increase costs, waste, resource use or supply-chain vulnerability elsewhere.
The report also calls for food and drink manufacturing to be recognised within the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, making it a priority sector for policies designed to advance technology adoption and productivity.
The release of this new report comes as previous research from Tetra Pak found that nearly two thirds (63%) of UK consumers are concerned about food shortages and supply disruption as awareness of the country’s food pressures deepens among both businesses and the public.
Katrin Andersson, Managing Director of Tetra Pak North Europe, comments: “The central message of this report is a simple one: advanced manufacturing has a central role to play in building a food system that is more productive, sustainable, resilient and capable of delivering affordable and nutritious food. At Tetra Pak, we see our role as contributing solutions to these complex challenges – whether through processing that ensures nutritional value and minimises waste or packaging that protects products and extends shelf life.”
The report features a foreword by the UK’s former Food Security Minister, Daniel Zeichner MP, who comments: “Food security continues to rise up the political agenda, as conflict, climate change and wider global instability place increasing pressure on supply chains. This report rightly identifies several challenges that demand attention: keeping food affordable, reducing the resources required to produce it, strengthening resilience, and addressing the often less discussed question of nutritional value.”
