Burnham’s Food Affordability Crisis: Industry Warns of a“Self-Inflicted” £300 Million Hit to Britain’s Shopping Baskets
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
In one of the first industry interventions of Andy Burnham’s premiership, the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has written to the Prime Minister today urging him to make fresh produce part of his cost-of-living fight — by scrapping an avoidable plan that would add more than £300 million a year to the cost of the fruit, vegetables and flowers Britain imports from beyond Europe.
At issue is the UK–EU Reset. As drafted, it would impose EU-style border controls on Rest of World fresh produce — food grown outside the EU and imported for British shoppers. Around half of all the fresh produce the UK imports comes from these countries: the citrus, mangoes, blueberries, sweet potatoes and peppers that fill shelves and menus every day of the year.
FPC warns the plan is unnecessary and self-defeating. The UK already runs a proven, science-based, risk-led regime for this produce that achieves 99.5% compliance across roughly 120,000 consignments a year. The Government’s own post-Brexit scientific assessment did not call for the EU-style controls now proposed.
“The Prime Minister has made the cost of living his mission — and we want to help him win it. But here is the first test: will he stop his own Government adding £300 million to the nation’s food bills, for no measurable benefit? Nothing has changed in the science. What has changed is the politics. This is a transfer of burden, not a simplification — and it is British shoppers who would pay.”
— Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce Consortium
Crucially, FPC is not opposing the Reset. The Consortium supports a better relationship with the EU and says a minor adjustment within the agreed terms would settle the issue. Its ask is simple: keep the UK’s existing science-based checks for Rest of World produce destined for UK consumers, while pursuing closer EU arrangements in parallel. FPC calls it a genuine win-win — protecting prices, biosecurity, UK–EU trade and global supply chains at the same time.
“Let me be clear: we are not asking anyone to lower standards, and we are not asking Britain to fix one trade problem with Brussels by creating a far bigger one at home. Our solution protects the EU’s own SPS zone too — the UK’s customs border already prevents this produce ever being re-exported into Europe. Standards are safeguarded on every side. This is common sense, not compromise.”
— Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce Consortium
At a time when the Government is rightly focused on food security, healthy eating and the cost of living, it makes little sense to introduce avoidable border costs that will make fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers more expensive and less accessible.
The UK cannot rely solely on domestic production and EU supply. British growers are vital, but they cannot provide the full range, volume and year-round availability of fresh produce that the country requires. A credible food security strategy must support British production, facilitate UK-EU trade and maintain trusted global supply chains.
In its letter, copied to Secretary of State, Dame Angela Eagle, Defra FPC asks the Prime Minister to request that Defra engage formally with the industry on the practical solutions already submitted, before final decisions are taken. The full evidence — a briefing, a short film, a one-page summary and tools for businesses to make their voice heard — is set out in the Consortium’s interactive UK-EU Reset Action Pack:
Comments