September 09 - Net Gains | Taste Magazine from Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber

How the region is supporting seafood sustainability, The Shipley bakery’s success story and ‘Soul food’ – A champion for Yorkshire food and drink

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Foreword by Julian Wild, a solicitor and corporate finance adviser who has spent more than 30 years in the food industry, and is food group director at Rollits, a Hull and York law firm.

Our industry is facing considerable challenges in the current economic climate, but we should be positive and upbeat in Yorkshire and Humber. I think that we’ve seen the worst. There is evidence that confidence is increasing
and the economic situation will strengthen in 2010. We know that people will always buy food and drink and, because of that, the industry has been fairly resilient during these tough times. To survive and grow, businesses have adapted to changing consumer buying habits, developed innovative new products and are exporting more.

We are clearly seeing down-trading in the market, with consumers either looking for cheaper alternatives in supermarkets, or switching to discount retailers such as Aldi, Netto and Lidl. Most major retailers are still doing well, in particular Yorkshire-based Morrisons and Asda, with Tesco fighting to hold on to its large market share. Their ability to adapt to changing consumer buying patterns is the reason not only for their success, but for their market dominance. Interestingly, all major retailers have developed their own ‘white label’ range of cheaper alternatives to help them retain and attract customers. Take Waitrose, whose ‘Essentials’ range has literally gone from nothing to over £100 million value in only three months.

New product development is also hugely important for business growth and survival at any time, and even more so now, particularly in this region where we have some of the most innovative companies in food and drink. Any company that can develop imaginative and exciting new products always attracts interest from major retailers, and there is a great deal of support available from the Regional Food Group and Yorkshire Forward to help businesses.

As a former Council member of Food from Britain, I believe that now is a fantastic time for our region to export more food and drink. However, it comes with a cautionary message. You can’t just decide to export and expect that the next day your goods will be heading out of the country. You need to have the right product, know your market, customers and competition, and it takes time, investment and a lot of planning. There is a great deal of support available to food and drink businesses that want to innovate, export and perhaps make acquisitions or disposals and I firmly believe that business support mechanisms for the Yorkshire and Humber food and drink sector are the best of their kind in the UK. All businesses should be constantly reinventing themselves so that, rather than stand still, they are fit, lean and positioned for growth.

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