Food chain must come together to secure supply

Strengthening the UK's food chain relationships is essential to secure long-term supplies, according to a report published by The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"Poor food chain relations", as a result of price pressures, undermine the supply and production of food, according to the National Farmers' Union (NFU). The union was quoted in a report last month: Securing UK's food supplies to 2050: the challenges faced by the UK.

The NFU said retail suppliers "suffer from weak contractual relations, short-term attitudes, and price unpredictability leading to a lack of confidence and under-investment"

Retailers often demanded retrospective price cuts and forced contributions to promotions from suppliers, said NFU director of policy Martin Haworth, at a Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum seminar last month. He said: "In the short-term this is good news for consumers, but in the long-term it will lead to lower investment in the supply chain, ultimately resulting in less choice, less supply and higher prices."

However, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, executive director at Tesco, stated: "A lot of people in this country need cheap food." Therefore, she said supermarkets had to work with the industry to ensure food is affordable.

l See p28.