IGD have published a free report which aims to help industry take action and refocus sustainability efforts on packaging solutions that have the greatest positive impact.

‘Packaging: which supermarket categories have the biggest opportunity for action?’ highlights that, to halve the environmental impact of all packaging systems by 2030, there needs to be at least a 20% reduction in the amount of packaging put on the market. This needs to be combined with significant environmental efficiency gains, including increased recycled content in packaging and increased material recycling rates.

The report also includes a supermarket heatmap to highlight where the environmental impacts of packaging are most significant within an average UK supermarket.

The report and heatmap can be downloaded here

Defra have updated the statutory guidance on the food and drink waste hierarchy and dealing with surplus and waste.

The guidance is for anyone who produces, handles, treats, or disposes of surplus or waste food and drink and it can be used by farmers or food producers, manufacturers, retailers, hospitality and food service providers and local authorities

You can access this latest updated guidance here

 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published consumer price inflation figures for March 2023 which show that for food and non-alcoholic beverages prices rose by 19.2% in the year to March 2023, up from 18.2% in February. This annual rate is the highest seen in this category for over 45 years.

The increase between February and March 2023 was largely driven by bread and cereals, where prices rose in the month to March 2023 but fell a year earlier, leading to an annual rate of 19.4% in the year to March 2023. This is the highest annual rate for bread and cereals on record (with the series starting in January 1989). Within this detailed class, the upward push between the latest two months came from a variety of biscuits and cakes.

Other smaller upward effects between February and March came from fruit, chocolate and confectionery, and meat, partly offset by a downward movement from oils and fats, where the annual rate slowed from 32.1% to 25.6%.

The annual rates in March 2023 for chocolate and confectionery, other food products (principally ready-meals and sauces) and hot beverages were each the highest on record (starting from January 1989).

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) responded to these latest figures explaining that “food prices, especially for fruit, vegetables, and sugar, rose as poor harvests in Europe and North Africa reduced availability, and the weak pound made importing more expensive. With food price inflation likely to slow in the coming months as we enter the UK growing season, we expect wider inflation will continue to ease. Nonetheless, prices for consumers will remain high, especially as household bill support is lifted” She also called on Government to “play its part by minimising the oncoming regulatory burdens, as these will hinder investment and will ultimately contribute to ongoing higher prices for households”

 

The European Commission have published their latest report which monitors the EU agri-food trade.

The report reviews EU exports and imports of agri-food products during 2022 and shows that EU agri-food trade totalled €401.5 billion during the year, with a positive trade balance of €58 billion. They report that, despite global price increases, volumes of agri-food products traded have not decreased, and occasionally have even increased.

In 2022, EU agri-food exports reached €229.8 billion, a 31% increase compared with 2021. Cereals and cereal preparations & milling products have been increasing the most in EU total exports (representing 7% and 10% of EU exports, respectively).

One of EU’s primary exports remains dairy products with €20.4 billion’s worth of export in 2022. Pigmeat also remained the largest exporting meat product that past year with €13.8 billion, despite a drop in Chinese demand.

In terms of trade partners, the UK still is by far the first destination for EU exports, representing one fifth of total EU exports. The United States ranks second, with 13% of EU exports in 2022 followed by China with 7% of total EU exports.

In 2022, EU imports increased by 32% compared to 2021 in value terms. This represents €172 billion of imports. This is largely due to an increase in global prices, especially for oilseed products and coffee, combined with an increasing need for imports of sunflower and soya beans due to the summer drought of 2022. This has also been the case for maize imports to compensate the EU domestic drop in production.

Brazil remains the first import source for the EU, representing 12% of total EU imports. The United Kingdom ranks second, with 9% of EU imports in 2022. Ukraine has overtaken the US in 2022 as the third import source of EU agri-food imports.

Read the report in full here

The FSA have recently published wave 8 of the Eating Well Choosing Better (EWCB) Tracker Survey for Northern Ireland.

The EWCB Survey monitors NI consumers understanding of healthy eating, knowledge of recommended daily calorie intake, use of traffic-light labels, attitudes towards reformulation and healthier options outside the home.

The survey and report was conducted and produced by Ipsos on behalf of the FSA between 17th September 2022 and 19th November 2022 and the key findings were:

• 91% of participants recognised the traffic light label and 85% reported to understand what traffic light labels are for.
• 62% of consumers choose foods with healthier traffic light colours always/most times.
• Around half of those surveyed would be more likely to buy food reduced in saturated fat (51%), sugar (47%), and salt (42%) compared to the regular version.
• Participants found it difficult to choose healthier food in a range of settings including takeaways (72%), fast-food restaurants (63%), leisure facilities such as cinemas and bowling alleys (63%), restaurants (49%), cafés and sandwich shops (40%) and vending machines (36%).
• Consumers would like to see healthier options in settings such as takeaways (48%), fast food restaurants (46%), food outlets in leisure facilities (37%), restaurants and bars (33%) and vending machines (28%).
• 18% of male and 28% of female participants correctly identified the recommended daily calorie intake for their gender.
• Males and those in a lower socioeconomic group are less likely to find out nutritional information of products; use the traffic light label when shopping for food and want to see increased availability of food lower in saturated fat, sugar and salt.

You can read the access the report in full here

 

The FSA has announced that, in light of a criminal investigation being carried out by the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) into suspected meat fraud, it will be looking to explore improvements to the current system to protect against rogue actors and criminal activity.

In a recently published blog Emily Miles, Chief Executive of the FSA said “I am pleased to say that a number of industry groups and representatives have agreed to work in collaboration with the FSA to explore improvements to the current system. These include the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, the British Meat Processors Association, the British Retail Consortium, the Food and Drink Federation, the Food Industry Intelligence Network, and Red Tractor”.

Miles pledged to:

• Review the scope for a single telephone number or website that whistle-blowers can contact to report concerns about food businesses. There are currently multiple telephone lines run by industry bodies, as well as one run by the FSA.
• See how to strengthen the role that third-party audits can play in passing on information to regulators to help prevent food fraud. Third-party audits are used by retailers and others to check their own supply chains.
• Review the best format and mechanism for the FSA to share intelligence-based alerts to better warn businesses about problems in supply chains.

A working group is now being convened with industry with a first meeting planned for May.