Eighth edition of Bellavita unites with

Eighth edition of Bellavita unites with EPPS and Ibérica Expo

The eighth edition of Bellavita Expo London, the largest Mediterranean food and beverage trade show in the UK, will be co-located with EPPS - the leading European pizza and pasta industry event – and will take place on 22 and 23 June 2022 at the Olympia London exhibition centre.

Organised with the support of Vinitaly and Cibus, the two events will complement each other to create the largest trade show dedicated to food, drinks, and specialised equipment in the sector. The event will generate a substantial growth opportunity for the UK and European food and beverage industries, feel the show organisers.

It promises to be an action-packed two-day event with over 300 food and beverage exhibitors and 10,000 visitors expected, together with an interactive show fl oor and feature areas - including the exclusive Spanish pavilion organised by Ibérica Expo - as well as industry competitions and innovative cooking shows, wine tastings and talks featuring Michelinstarred chefs such as Giorgio Locatelli, Masters of Wine and key market players - all under one roof (turn to page 26 for a show preview).

Record grain prices to persist due to additional cost pressures

In its Economic Update of 24 May 2022, the trade association, UK Flour Millers, observed that, “whilst the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a signifi cant rise in the global grain prices, other factors have continued to push quotations for both old crop and new crop grain to record or near-record highs.”

This observation was based on the fact that grain prices are now at record highs, they reported, with delivered quotations for breadmaking wheat in all parts of the UK approximately 70% higher than at the previous harvest (September 2021), for example.

Whilst the war in Ukraine has had a signifi cant price impact, the Economic Update noted, weather concerns in key production regions, in particular drought in the US, have tightened global supply and demand and pushed quotations even higher. The recent announcement by India of a partial wheat export ban has added further price support, they added.

“Some may have expected the war in Ukraine to cause a short-term impact on wheat prices, however, disruption to Black Sea wheat exports is likely to last for a lengthy period. Coupled with the weather concerns for the 2022 wheat harvest and strong global demand, longer-term price pressure is expected and new crop quotations will not provide relief, standing close to old crop with both at record highs,” the Economic Update went on to state.

The update also acknowledged that although a sizeable UK wheat harvest is anticipated, high nitrogen fertiliser prices may lead to reduced applications by growers, which could have a signifi cant impact on UK milling wheat (where greater nitrogen applications are needed to achieve the standard breadmaking protein specifi cation of 13.0%).

“The new crop price quotations, high fertiliser prices and energy costs highlight that food price infl ation is unlikely to be a transient spike owing to the war in Ukraine, but will be a prolonged issue driven by weather concerns in key wheat-producing regions coupled with sanctions on Russian trade,” the Economic Update concluded.