• About SFDF
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• Key Issues
  • Additives
  • Allergens
  • Avian Flu
  • Better Regulation
  • Biofuels
  • Carbon Reduction
  • Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
  • Country of Origin Labelling
  • Environment
  • Environmental Management
  • Equality Bill
  • Fairtrade
  • Food Information for Consumers
  • Food Safety - Read the Label
  • Food Safety in the Supply Chain
  • Food Security
  • Fortification of Food with Folic Acid
  • GM and Biotechnology
  • Green House Emissions
  • Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs)
  • Imports and Exports
  • Labour in the Supply Chain
  • Nutrition and Health Claims
  • Nutrient Profiling Model
  • Obesity
  • Organic Food and Drink
  • Packaging
  • Productivity
  • Responsible Marketing
  • Rising Commodity Prices
  • Seafood Sustainability
  • Salt
  • Saturated Fat and Energy
  • Skills in the Food and Drink Sector
  • Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises
  • Sugars
  • Sustainable Palm Oil and Soy
  • Temporary Agency Workers Directive
  • Trade Liberalisation
  • Trade with UK Farmers and Growers
  • Trans Fat
  • Transport
  • Water Efficiency
  • Waste Reduction
  • Workplace Wellbeing
• Resources

Trade with UK Farmers and Growers

Food manufacturers in this country buy three quarters of the crops and animals produced by the UK's farmers and growers. These raw ingredients are processed by manufacturers into the great tasting, safe, convenient food and drink products we enjoy day in day out. Many of these products are also exported, offering farmers and growers the opportunity to benefit from sales overseas.

Manufacturers in the UK are hugely important customers of farmers and growers, and FDF members value their close ties with this country's agricultural community. However, FDF also believes that to preserve these links, it is vital that UK farmers remain competitive on an international level. Agricultural raw materials represent a significant part of overall production costs for food manufacturers. As such, ready access to good quality and competitively priced agricultural raw materials is vital for the manufacturing sector's success.

If standards imposed on farmers here by our Government are far above those faced by their counterparts in other parts of the world, then this risks reducing the competitiveness of UK agriculture. This means it is essential the Government benchmark UK farmers' businesses with those of primary producers overseas to ensure a level playing field is achieved as far as possible.