Response to the ONS food and drink inflation figures

Balwinder Dhoot, Director of Sustainability and Growth, The Food and Drink Federation said:

“It’s good to see food and drink price inflation fall again, for the eighth consecutive month, to 9.2 per cent in November from 10.1 per cent in October. Our industry is very conscious of the pressure on household budgets at Christmas time and food and drink manufacturers continue to do all they can to keep prices as low as possible for consumers.

“While agricultural commodity prices are generally falling, they remain 21% higher than they were pre-pandemic. There have been significant price rises in cocoa – reaching a 25 year high, while olive oil prices are almost double than a year ago. The recent navigation turmoil in the Red Sea will likely add to inflationary pressures on our sector, with global shipping rates increasing by 10% since the start of the month.

“We are seeing a concerning drop in investment in our industry, in the first half of this year investment was more than a third lower than in the same period four years ago. For the industry to recover its resilience after the shocks of recent years, we need the government urgently to review the conditions for investment in our sector. Improving existing and planned regulation that is adding avoidable costs to the industry would also help, from Extended Producer Responsibility, the Plastics Packaging Tax and ‘Not for EU’ labelling.”