Food & Drink

Cheesemakers from across the UK have donated a whopping 295kg (650lbs) of cheese to the Royal Hospital as part of the Annual Ceremony of the Christmas Cheeses, getting the festive season into swing.

Government faces a stark choice: back British food production in order to secure a home-grown supply of sustainable food or risk seeing more empty shelves in the nation’s supermarkets, the NFU warned today.

Former Director General of MI5, The Baroness Manningham-Buller LG DCB said home grown food production is integral to our national security, at the NFU’s 2022 Henry Plumb Memorial Lecture.

Upcoming regulatory changes could see a large amount of British meat exports heading to the EU become non-compliant overnight, which will have a detrimental effect on farmers, processors and the economy alike, the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has warned.

Unrelenting cost pressures in the sector could mean that free range and organic egg producers will lose more than £300,000 per flock on average as losses rack up to nearly £10 per hen, independent consultants have said.

New mystery shopper research carried out by the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society has revealed that British Aberdeen-Angus is the “beef of choice” across premium meat ranges in UK supermarkets.

In response to rising cost pressures in the sector, Noble Foods has announced a price increase of six pence per dozen eggs for all its free-range and organic producers to demonstrate its commitment to “putting producers first”.

Suffolk’s Hog & Hen farm shop and café has provided a hub for the local community, whilst supporting the farming family’s arable and pig enterprise. Farmers Guide visited the shop to chat to the team about their farming methods and experience starting a new diversification through the pandemic – alongside the myriad challenges facing British farmers.

NFU Mutual has launched a campaign urging farms to donate edible food waste to redistribution charity FareShare.  

Adverts by the oat drink brand attracted over 100 complaints, with critics raising concerns about the company’s environmental claims.

As the UK marks its first tumultuous year outside of the EU, Farmers Guide reflects on the current situation – the outstanding threats, opportunities and what the future may hold for British farmers as a result.

A coalition of leading food and farming businesses is warning that the UK faces a deepening food supply chain crisis unless the government takes urgent and meaningful action to fix the structural issues facing the industry.