Due to soaring commodity prices and deteriorating supply chain conditions created by the war in Ukraine, the output growth of UK food and drink manufacturers fell to an eight-month low in March. It’s now becoming very clear just how the war in Ukraine is impacting the supply chain.

It has been estimated that Ukrainian farmers haven’t been able to harvest approximately 20%-30% of their crops and their capacity to plant next years season is limited with a number of constraints. The farmers also have the challenge that agriculture supply chains are complicated to start with as there is only a limited number of windows for planting and harvesting crops. They now also have to consider the fact that processing facilities in Ukraine are closed and the backlog of grain that is yet to be processed will only get bigger. Even if the grain could be processed, it would be stuck within the region due to internal logistics and infrastructure being destroyed, making it harder to transport.

Ling Sin Fai Lam, director of environment, social and governance and sustainability at Shore Capital claimed that the global supply of commodities, such as wheat that are typically transported via the Black Sea using ships, are now going to face further challenges as well. Vessels that are bound for the Black Sea will face an increase in insurance premiums, putting further pressure on prices for the commodity.

Due to the impact climate change is having on our planet, such a rising temperatures, water shortages, wind and fires, the way we farm across the world is changing, which is affecting our supply chain and how we feed our population.

For a more sustainable production, we need to be looking at ways to improve yield, reduce reliance on fertilisers, look at moving to alternative proteins and diversifying grains. However, one of the biggest factors we need to consider is reducing food waste at a household level.

The impact of the war in Ukraine on the food and drink industry has coincided with a 6.7% rise in inflation, the largest since 2011. Karen Betts, Chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, explained that because Ukraine and Russia were important suppliers of commodities, such as wheat and food oils, as well as energy and fertiliser, the current war has made the supply chain situation much worse.

In May, The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation announced their first Natasha Clinical Trial. The trial will focus on children and young people with milk and peanut allergies in our new ground-breaking £2.2m oral immunotherapy trial.

The trial will aim to plug the current Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) research gap by proving that everyday foods instead of expensive pharmaceutical drugs can be used as a practical treatment for food allergy. If it’s successful, it will empower the NHS to provide cost-effective treatments and the more cost-effective they are, the greater the potential to treat more people across the country.

The study will recruit 216 people between the ages of 3 and 23 years. Following an initial 12 months of desensitisation (carried out according to a standardised protocol under strict medical supervision), participants will be monitored for a further 2 years in order to report on longer-term safety and cost-effectiveness. The aim is to bring the level of evidence to a point where OIT using commercially-available foods could be approved for use in the NHS to treat food-allergic patients most at risk of anaphylaxis.

The trial will which will take 3 years to complete, over 5 universities from North to South across the UK and at a cost of £2.2M. It has been funded thanks to a consortium of food businesses’ generous donations and from Natasha’s Army group of supporters.

Initially the trial will focus on milk and peanut allergy, but in the future the aim is for OIT to extend to treating any food allergy, not just allergens named in the EU top 14.

Since their daughter Natasha’s tragic death from an allergic reaction to sesame, Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse have been determined that her death would not be in vain. They believe that medical research holds the key to changing allergic lives and this is a huge mission for their charity. For too long, people with allergies have been told to take all responsibility to remain safe; to ensure 100% avoidance to the foods they are allergic to. They need and deserve so much more.

For more information, click here.

Businesses are having to dispose thousands of pounds worth of products due to ‘clandestine infiltration’, in which the safety of food is being compromised by the presence of migrants in the lorry trailers coming into the UK from the EU. It’s also been predicted that the numbers are going to rise significantly in the coming months.

BFFF member, Oakland International, offers a distress load management (DML) service which aims to reduce food waste linked to human tampering. They are having to expand the DML service after seeing a 33% increase in volumes in March and April compared to earlier in the year. The increase seems to tie in with the news about the Rwanda deportation announcements.

Under the UK government’s recent agreement with the Rwandan government, which was announced in April, migrants who cross the Channel via unofficial routes – such as small boats – could be deported to the East African country.

Last year, Oakland handled 520 loads of stock subject to clandestine infiltration. It is currently handling between 15 to 20 claims a week directly linked to migrants, and is expecting those numbers to double this year.

Food distribution firms are often made aware that people infiltrated a lorry either when the vehicles cross the border and they purposefully make themselves heard, or when the vehicles reach their destination in the UK and there is evidence to support this upon opening the trailer– such as footprints, moved or damaged pallets, or broken door handles.

This is typically when Oakland’s services are requested. The supply chain specialist then runs thorough, science-based food safety checks to determine how much of a load has been affected. The process allows it to save around 85% of an affected load, while 15% is disposed of via an anaerobic digestion solution.

Following the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) presenting at the Technical Conference on 12^th May, they have provided a list of services they offer to help you stay protected. It’s crucial for businesses to be aware of what could happen, be alerted to any potential risks and be ready to act if they are attacked.

• Subscription Centre

To keep up to date with news and advisories from the NCSC, you can sign up to our subscription service here: https://ncsc-production.microsoftcrmportals.com/subscribe/

You can sign up to receive information about a number of different NCSC publications and events e.g. weekly threat briefs, Digital Loft events, CyberUK, Small Organisations Newsletter etc. The Small Organisations Newsletter will also be relevant to your supply chain.

To assist with streamlining our information flow to our respective sectors, organisations and companies during these unprecedent times. With are disseminating all future advisories, threat reports and urgent comms out via our ‘Threat Report & Advisories’ subscription service. This is part of the suite of tools offered by the NCSC subscription service. Please sign up using the subscription service link in order to receive the most up to date information in relation to the ‘heightened threat’ following Russia’s attack on the Ukraine. You can opt out at any time, but we encourage you to sign up today in order for us to disseminate the most up to date information to you.

• Early Warning – https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/early-warning-service

Helps organisations investigate cyber attacks on their network by notifying them of malicious activity that has been detected in information feeds. We are recommending organisations sign up at their earliest opportunity.

• Exercise in a Box – https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/exercise-in-a-box

Exercise in a Box is an online tool from the NCSC which helps organisations test and practise their response to a cyber attack. It is completely free and you don’t have to be an expert to use it.

For more information, have a look at their website.