Food manufacturers supplying the hospitality and healthcare markets have called for urgent Government support to rescue them from ‘a financial cliff edge’.
A group of 18 trade associations, led by the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), has written to chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak and other Government ministers. They have asked for the following support measures to be put in place for food manufacturers with immediate effect:
Extension of the 12-month Local Authority Business Rates exemption to businesses supplying into the hospitality and foodservice market, using the existing legislative exemption for hardship.
Ongoing capital and tax break allowances to maintain the workforce, prorated depending on how many staff a company can keep employed.
Food waste: I ll have to throw away £6,000-worth of milk
By Howard Mustoe
image copyrightCreed foodservice
image captionPhilip de Ternant, managing director of Creed Foodservice, says he has milk that could go to waste I ve got around £6,000 of milk going out of date. If I can t give it to anyone, it will be dumped, wholesaler Philip de Ternant says.
The boss of Creed Foodservice is one of many firms facing potentially having to throw away food after schools suddenly closed to most pupils this week.
The blow came after firms ordered extra stock to accommodate any supply disruption ahead of new Brexit rules.
Wholesalers have been left with £12m of surplus food as a result of the latest national lockdown.
The figure from the Federation of Wholesale Distributors is the result of the sudden closure of wholesalers’ customers in education, hospitality and other workplaces.
“For the third time in 10 months wholesalers are footing the bill for lockdown, and once again they have not been included in the Chancellor’s new support package,” said FWD CEO James Bielby. “They’re running out of time and money. Our members have millions of pounds worth of fresh, chilled and ambient stock which is quickly going out of date, with no customers to sell it to. One day’s notice of lockdown has created huge problems. Some wholesalers supplying education report that they’re facing a £100k losses on stock ordered in good faith by schools before the Christmas holidays.”
By Lyndsey Cambridge2021-01-08T12:35:00+00:00
Wholesalers Bidfood and Brakes worked together to deliver more than five million food parcels during the first national lockdown
The government has confirmed it will not be supplying food boxes to the ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ group during the third national lockdown.
Defra officials told industry leaders at the Food Resilience Forum today that shielding individuals have been prioritised by supermarkets instead.
During the first national lockdown rivals Bidfood and Brakes worked together to produce and distribute some five million food parcels to 450,000 people that qualified for the aid.
The boxes included rations of essential food and drink products including pasta, rice and cereal.
Trade bodies across the supply chain have urged the government to create a compensation scheme for losses incurred due to the French border closure.
Heads of food organisations – including the Food and Drink Federation, the Fresh Produce Consortium, the UK Food and Drink Exporters Association and the Chilled Food Association – have written an open letter to George Eustice, environment secretary, and Grant Shapps, transport secretary, calling for immediate action for businesses caught up in the blockade.
Calamitous decision
“The decision of the French authorities – to ban accompanied freight on 20 December 2020 – after the announcement by the UK government of the new strain of virus has caused a calamity for many food and drink businesses,” said the letter.