The UK is facing one of the worst cost of living crises, with the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) noting annual inflation of 9.4 per cent, exceeding the Eurozone’s average of 8.6 per cent. In the year to June 2022, food and non-alcoholic beverages as a part of the Consumer Price Index in the UK rose 9.8 per cent.
The conflict in Ukraine has put a spotlight on the potential for disruption to our food supply chain. It took until the end of July, months into the war, for Ukraine and Russia to negotiate a deal which allows for the export of grain through the Black Sea. In July there were already 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silos in the port city of Odesa, rotting away. All it takes is a walk into the supermarket to plainly see how globally interconnected our food supply chain is: grain from Ukraine, chard from Spain, apples from Chile and bananas from Ghana.
