6 minute read

GUILD TALK

from FFD April 2022

by Guild of Fine Food

from FFD April 2022, page 17

CHEESEWIRE

View from HQ

By John Farrand managing director

BREXIT. COVID. ENERGY crisis. In ation. Con ict. Not in order of how much impact they are having on our trade, but as a collective they are certainly challenging us all.

I'll start by stating that the obvious adverse e ects on our trade do not compare to the tragic situation unfolding in Ukraine. We must separate the human tragedy from food shortages, price increases and any other secondary downturn.

Many of you will know that we’ve been working towards World Cheese 2022 in Ukraine for over two years and, as a result, have formed relationships with the team at ProCheese, based in Kyiv. The global cheese community is a small and close one. The messages that we have received from judges who met the Ukraine contingent in Oviedo in 2021 have been genuine and heartfelt. So much so that we have mobilised a JustGiving page –justgiving.com/worldcheeseawards – to make a very small but positive di erence. Give if you can.

Brexit gives us import and export headaches and that is not going away. COVID played havoc with sta ng and seems to be rearing its head again. But it is the energy and in ation constraint that could trouble us the most. We can all see it. The direct debit increases on our electricity bills and the fact that my car cost £113 to ll up this week means everything costs more as oil, gas and electricity are at the heart of production, packaging, transport, waste and anything else you can think of in the cycle of making and selling food and drink.

And food in ation could give us an unseen downer: we were winning the ght during lockdown against the stereotype of ‘local shop equals expensive shop’. Our customers

now see the bene t of better food & drink and valuing it, and there’s a danger that escalating costs may reverse that upper.

Why? I have a theory that the supermarkets will squeeze their suppliers as hard as they can to negate cost hikes, while the smaller retailers will need (and should) share the burden of that in ation with the producers and the rest of us, however challenging that is.

Smaller retailers should share the burden of in ation with producers Great Taste 2022 judging underway

Food industry experts drawn from the Guild’s panel of 500 judges have flocked to the Guild's London and Dorset offices for judging, as Great Taste 2022 got underway last month.

Over 3,500 products have gone before the judges across the two locations, with 3-star products already emerging from the pack. As FFD went to the press, 17 judging days had been completed as the experts make their way through the 14,205 products entered into this year’s awards.

gff.co.uk/greattaste

The Word on Westminster

By Edward Woodall ACS

THE USUAL CUT and thrust of Westminster politics has been put on hold as the UK Government, and governments across the world, respond to the illegal invasion of Ukraine. These actions by Russia have disrupted the geopolitical balance and the global economy and will have repercussions for decades to come. It has also refocused the Government’s mind on both energy security and food security, which has a significant impact on household budgets and businesses’ operating costs. The planned announcements of many Government policies like the food white paper are now on hold indefinitely.

One area that the government cannot afford to remove its focus from is the cost-of-living and -ofdoing-business crisis facing the country. Inflation rates are rising and look like they will hit double digits this year and will remain high for a long period. Energy bills are increasing sharply, and it appears a further increase to the energy cap will be needed later in the year. The labour market has become much tighter, making it more costly and difficult to recruit.

As a result, we will all be looking to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to offer some support in the Spring Statement. But the public finances remain in a difficult position postCOVID and the Chancellor has personally endorsed an acrossthe-board increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) that will further add to cost increases. This doesn’t leave the Chancellor with many options, but we have made the case for the Treasury to focus on how they can continue to support businesses to invest, grow and sustain employment levels.

In our recommendations to the Chancellor, we have called for an extension to existing business rates reliefs funds to reduce cost increases and a freeze in the 2023 business rates multiplier, which is linked to CPI inevitably resulting in significantly increased business rates bills across the high street in 2023. We have also called for a cut to fuel duty, increasing the starting point for employer NICs. Why are these recommendations important? It takes the edge off of rising costs for businesses now but it also supports them to invest in the long term.

We believe that the path to recovery and sound public finances will be delivered by a tax and regulatory framework that supports private sector investment.

Edward Woodall is government relations director at the ACS edward.woodall@acs.org.uk

Retail cheese training courses

With two sold-out courses already completed at Guild HQ in Dorset and No. 42 in London, the Guild is looking forward to further courses in London, Harrogate and Scotland.

Turophiles in the North can attend the Guild’s retail cheese trade training to be held the day after this year's Fine Food Show North in Harrogate, on 29th June, while London's No. 42 will host the one-day course on 4th July and 15th September. A venue is yet to be confirmed for the course north of the border, which will be held on 20th September.

Presented by two experts in the field, Patrick McGuigan & Emma Young, the course costs £150 for Guild members and £195 for non-members.