Russia has pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, risking potential food shortages in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as rising prices worldwide.
Finsbury Food Group ceo John Duffy says that “relentless commodity price inflation” on basic ingredients such as butter, sugar and flour have eroded the firm’s profit margins.
Retailers are proving stubbornly resistant to suppliers' attempts to raise prices to reflect surging commodity costs, according to delegates at Food Manufacture’s annual business leaders’ round-table debate.
Higher energy and raw material prices coupled with fragile demand and weak retail pricing could put many food manufacturers – particularly bakers – under intense margin pressure this year, analysts are predicting.
