Poll reveals drift towards outsourcing
Three out of four respondents to Food Manufacture's latest on-line poll believe more UK food and drink companies will exit manufacturing this year and outsource production to third parties, either in the UK or overseas.
The remaining balance of respondents broke down into 13% answering 'no' when asked whether they expected more companies to exit manufacturing and 12% saying 'don't know'.
The poll was taken after premium chocolate maker Elizabeth Shaw decided to close its Bristol factory and concentrate purely on sales and marketing.
The company did not disclose who would be making its products in future, but confirmed that it was talking to suppliers in lower-wage economies as well as UK manufacturers to see which could meet its quality requirements at the lowest cost.
Shaw's decision followed another well-publicised move, this time by Birds Eye, which closed its frozen foods factory in Grimsby and outsourced production to undisclosed third parties.
Mark Bottjer, md of the contract manufacturing and packing company Cerealpack, said: "This trend is likely to continue as more branded suppliers concentrate on building their brands and product development."
He added: "Innovation is paramount, especially if you are looking to keep a product in the marketplace for as long as possible, which means introducing different variants, new pack sizes, new packaging and so on, and flexibility is very expensive."
