FDF highlights export challenges and opportunities
That's the opinion of Food and Drink Federation (FDF) commercial director Steve Barnes.
In this exclusive podcast, Barnes told FoodManufacture.co.uk continued UK food industry export recovery highlighted the opportunities in areas such as Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, the US, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking at the Food and Drink Exporters Association's annual Network Forum, Barnes said all categories of food and drink offered lucrative returns from the right customers in the right markets.
However, he singled out whisky exports for special mention, which he said had risen in value by £138M in the past full year.
Given the openings that were springing up for UK products, he urged processors to grab a slice of the action or lose out to other countries, which seemed more enthusiastic.
For example, he said Italy had sent a delegation of 1,000 firms to German trade show Anuga earlier this year, versus the UK's 100. And he added: "Germans export almost 10 times the value of our exports."
