The boss of Sainsbury’s has warned that new government policies designed to make farming more sustainable could harm Britain’s food production and lead to more imported food.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain, said the UK food system “is at a crossroads” because environmental challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss are creating a perfect storm “with well-intentioned but inconsistent government policy”.
He added: "We all recognise the need to make our food system more sustainable, but the current approach risks inadvertently reducing the level of UK production. This will affect capacity here and lead to more imported food — which of course is less sustainable."
Sainsbury’s works with more than 15,000 British farmers, sourcing £2billion of produce every year for its stores throughout the UK.
Speaking to The Times, the supermarket boss said that “concerns about the direction of policy combined with the system of farm payments post-Brexit have discouraged producers from investing,” adding that there is “real concern in farming communities about the unintended consequences for the future of UK food production”.
He said: "Our farmers deliver the highest standards of animal welfare and are more focused than ever on driving sustainability, yet at the same time food prices in the UK are lower than in most comparable markets. In fact, since 1957, the percentage of a typical family’s disposable income spent on food has fallen from 31% to 12%.
"Yet with the exception of the pandemic, when retailers, suppliers and politicians really did pull together to ensure the nation was fed, the vital work of everyone working in our UK food system has too often been taken for granted. This needs to change because the UK food system is at a crossroads.
"Environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss are combining with well-intentioned but inconsistent government policy to prompt increasing concern among producers and the supply base on which we all rely. Some of the shortages seen in the last few years, such as in eggs last year, have shown the fragility of the UK food system to these external shocks."
Roberts’s warning came as the Food and Drink Federation, the industry trade body, claimed that another new government policy — the introduction of “not for EU” labelling — will also hamper production and exports of UK-made food and drinks.
UK producers exported £24.billion worth of food and drink last year, 2 per cent less than in 2022, as a small rise in sales to consumers in the European Union was not enough to offset a drop in non-EU exports.
The federation expects exports to drop again this year as producers are forced to include “not for EU” labels on all meat and dairy products destined for Northern Ireland. The industry is worried that the additional cost of the new labelling, estimated at up to £250 million a year, will make British producers uncompetitive.