How to break the cycle of short-term pressure dictating the food system

The food industry is facing serious issues. Factory staff shortages, a lack of lorry drivers to move products, rising energy bills and raw material prices escalating out of control. When we add on top the unfolding supply chain crisis across Europe and beyond, the reality of how fragile the food supply chain is exposed.

The impact producing our food is having on our planet is also in sharp relief. With COP26 just around the corner, and in the wake of the damning report released by the UN in August this year, we are all acutely aware that time is running out for our planet. The food industry must think differently if it is to become part of the solution.

The UK government’s answer is for industry to create a high-skilled, high-wage economy, based on green technology with less reliance on ‘low cost’ labour from Europe post-Brexit. While the appointment of Dave Lewis as an advisor to help address the supply chain crisis is welcome, with families exposed to food inflation and retailers facing their own competitive challenges, the risk of short-term pressures continuing to drive the agenda and inhibit the necessary change is overwhelming.

How then to break the cycle? Is the food industry doomed to a future where manufacturers continue to operate in inefficient, ageing facilities, lacking investment and struggling to attract a younger workforce to replace those approaching retirement?

Collaboration is key. We need a more holistic plan to address the fundamental challenges ahead and to unlock the potential of our industry as a green engine of the UK economy.

This starts with reimagining how the UK food supply chain should look. We need a platform for industry to work together to cluster production and invest in the new technologies which enable shared energy and services to reduce operating costs. We need a co-ordinated supply chain to reduce food miles, packaging and food waste.

We need to mobilise the government to support the food industry in the same way as it has supported the ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ sector. We urgently need a new food facilities asset-class to crowd in investment and fund these necessary changes.

We have seen Silicon Valley invest in tech-based producers in cellular agriculture and vertical farming, driving a new focus in the food industry around plant-based products to address the challenge of climate change. This is a welcome spotlight, but we also need to address the broader industry ageing facility and distribution network challenges if we are to deliver a step change.

SmartParc provides one model. But we cannot do it alone if we are to reinvigorate a core industry at the heart of UK communities. The UK has led the way in food production and it’s time for us to work together to reimagine the future of food production by embracing new technologies and new routes to investment to do the right thing for our planet and the industry.