Ukraine’s food industry is as heroic and resourceful as its soldiers

The cost of living crisis is having an appalling impact on UK consumers and businesses alike, while an avian flu so virulent that a single teaspoon of droppings can kill 10,000 birds is a tragedy for poultry farmers. But the situation is not as bad as in Ukraine, where 36% food inflation is almost incidental amid the hail of bullets and malnutrition. 

As we report, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned food security into a weapon of war. Yet the story of how Ukrainian civilians have been fed and watered is no simple aid  effort. Were it not for the resilience, bravery and ingenuity of the country’s food industry, Kyiv would have surrendered many months ago.

Yet ongoing airstrikes on Ukraine’s energy supply threaten further the nation’s food security, with water supply, as well as heating and refrigeration, under further threat. To say nothing of the life and death struggle millions of civilians are facing without heating or electricity in Ukraine’s cruel winter. It’s a desperate and deeply moving situation, and if you only read one story in this week’s issue of The Grocer, I urge you to read this.

The untold story of war: how Ukraine is fighting to feed itself

A lesser recognised problem for the food sector, however, is that eight millions Ukrainians have fled the country – 20% of the population. It creates a simple equation for any business still standing: lose 20% of your market, lose 20% of sales.

Yet it is perhaps an area where the British food industry can help. British supermarkets and FMCG suppliers have made a commendable contribution to the relief effort this year, donating millions to Ukrainian charities, making deliveries, paying ex-colleagues now stuck and supporting those trying to flee.

But now could be the time to pull the levers of commerce closer to home. Ukrainian food producers are looking for alternative markets for lost sales, with ambitions to turn their country from an exporter of commodities such as wheat and oil into one of final products like coffee and dairy.

Asda, for example, has already committed to a ‘Ukrainian shelf’ that celebrates some of Ukraine’s best food exports. And this is not just a charitable outlay as 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK since March – a sizeable diaspora no doubt hungry for a taste of the home they were forced to leave.