Cost of food and drink to rise in event of Brexit, says Prestige Purchasing

At the Breakfast Briefing hosted by Prestige Purchasing, the company predicted that food and drink prices are going to rise in the event of a Leave victory in tomorrow's Referendum.

Speaking at the event, David Read, CEO of Prestige Purchasing said, "Both the long-term and the wider impacts of Brexit could well be more benign, but in the first 2-3 years the combined effects of weakened sterling, import tariffs, and rising labour and energy costs is likely to push up the price of food and drink, possibly significantly.”

“It’s important to understand the heavy reliance we have on imported product in the UK, as we run a £21bn trade gap in food alone. We produce only around 60% of our food, and 27% of it is imported from the EU. As recently as last year sterling appreciated against the euro by 9%, which impacted the UK’s total food basket positively by over 2%.”

Citing a recent report from Defra that forecast imported food prices rising by 11%, David Read said, “The scale of price increases are difficult to predict, particularly as global food prices remain generally quite soft currently, but the potential range of increases is wide. Smart caterers will be clear about contingency plans in advance of the vote.”