The UK is a significant net importer of food by value. HMRC data for the first post-Brexit calendar year shows that the UK imports £24.5 billion worth of four key food commodities (fruit and vegetables, meat, cereals, and dairy and eggs), representing 62 per cent of all food and drink imported into the UK between March 2021 and February 2022.

As part of our new rural research report, Spotlight on agri-food sustainability, we have analysed the provenance of this imported food and rated the relative environmental impact of each exporting country to find that over two thirds (69 per cent, or £16.8 billion) originates from nations with worse environmental impact scores than the UK. For fruit and vegetables and cereals, this proportion increases to 77 per cent.

Although the UK can improve the standards of its own food producers, the scope to impose them on imports through trade deals is much more limited. Meanwhile the Government is considering cutting the duty on food coming in from countries that don’t have trade deals with the UK in order to help ease the cost of living crisis. This would be a short-sighted fix to a long-term problem.

UK farmers face higher production costs as a result of environmental legislation and evolving supply chain requirements. At the same time, the confidence to invest in domestic production is undermined by the prospect of cheaper imports, produced against different standards.

It’s important to acknowledge that preserving and improving domestic food production is vital not only to reach our targets for biodiversity and nature, but also to provide consumers with safe and nutritious food.

Unless addressed, the quest for cheaper food risks more production being offshored to countries where traceability and environmental credentials may not be guaranteed, leaving the consumer with an unenviable choice between the price of the weekly shop and the cost to the planet.

Further information

Contact Emily Norton or Andrew Wraith

Savills Food & Farming