The Home Office and DEFRA have announced that the Seasonal Worker visa route will be extended until the end of 2024, which allows foreign workers to come to the UK for up to six months to work in the horticulture sector. There will be 30,000 visas available this year, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 if necessary. The number of visas will begin to taper down from 2023 and the sector will have to improve pay and conditions. Following the 2019 review of the pilot, the Home Office has reviewed the requirements placed on the scheme operators and updated the seasonal worker sponsor guidance to tighten the compliance requirements. Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, Kevin Foster, said: “The extension to the Seasonal Worker visa route strikes the right balance of supporting the industry while it transitions to employing and prioritising domestic workers.” Environment Secretary, George Eustice, said: “We had a seasonal worker scheme for agriculture from the time of the second world war and long before we joined the EU. We recognise that agriculture has unique and seasonal requirements for labour at harvest and have listened to our world leading fresh produce industry to understand their needs.” Changes to the route, which has run since 2019, will force companies to pay those using the route a minimum salary to discourage poor conditions. The changes follow a review of the seasonal workers pilot which found the reliance on foreign labour held down wages, disincentivised investment and discouraged workers (both resident and non-resident) into these roles. While the visa scheme will continue to allow seasonal workers to come to the UK, the government has demanded a plan from the sector to cut the reliance on foreign labour.

Oterra, the supplier of natural colours, continues its strong growth acceleration announcing the acquisition of Food Ingredient Solutions. Founded in 1999, Food Ingredient Solutions is an American producer of colours and natural antioxidants, with a strong exposure to, and growth from, natural colours. The company serves more than 400 customers annually and has two certified processing facilities located in Teterboro, New Jersey, and Marshfield, Missouri. Oterra continues its strong growth with multiple complementary bolt-on acquisitions since its inception, including the acquisition of SECNA Natural Ingredients Group S.L. and Diana Food’s colouring business in Europe earlier in 2021. Food Ingredient Solutions will mark its first US-based acquisition. “North America is one of the fastest-growing natural colours markets, and this acquisition puts Oterra in a great position to further support our customers in the conversion towards natural colours,” said Cees de Jong, chairman, Oterra. Jeff Greaves, founder and CEO of Food Ingredient Solutions, will join Oterra. “I’m thrilled that Food Ingredient Solutions will become a part of Oterra. We have a strong local presence and great customer relationships, and as Oterra we will be able to offer our customers access to the most extensive portfolio of natural colours in the world,” said Greaves. “We look forward to welcoming the Food Ingredient Solutions team to Oterra. They will join a strong team of dedicated natural colour specialists from around the world, and their addition will be met with excitement, especially from our US employees as we further strengthen our US position,” said Odd Erik Hansen, CEO, Oterra.

People who love sushi will have to pay more or go without as the UK is about to experience a significant increase in the price of sushi rice. Ingredients experts, Eurostar Commodities warn that the since September 2020 freight costs alone have increased approximately 19%. Raw material has increased by approximately 35% due to short supply and very high demand. There may not be enough rice produced globally this harvest to satisfy 100% of demand this year (2021-2022) creating a potential shortage in the market. Price of paddy rice is increasing and will no longer be available on the open market from March 2022. By Spring, the forecast is that there will be no paddy rice left in the entire global market. There will be 13% less rice available in total volume than the previous year, meanwhile global demand is soaring. This includes round grain and long grain and extends into the various cereal processing industries that are dependent on rice as a key ingredient. Ingredients expert, Jason Bull, director, Eurostar Commodities, said: “Right now the entire industry is clamouring to buy the rice that they need, and this is driving the price up further. This cycle is going to continue into Spring 2022 increasing prices even further. The prediction is that this will affect the price of products for consumers especially consumption of sushi in restaurants and supermarkets. I have heard industry people describing it even though we are at the beginning of the new harvest ‘the prices are like we are at the end.’” Much of the sushi rice consumed in the UK comes from paddy fields in Northern Italy where the rice harvest begins in the Autumn. However, Europe does not grow enough rice to fulfil demand and so it is topped up with rice from the rest of the world – but this year they will also have a massive shortfall due to freight and logistical issues. Major rice producing countries include Thailand, Pakistan, Myanmar, Vietnam, South America and Italy. The situation in Italy is that there are continued increases in the price of paddy due to short supply and this is forecast to continue over the next few months. Compared with one year ago it is now more expensive to transport the product from the far east than it is to produce it. Energy, transport and packaging costs have all increased as well as surcharges being imposed on freight due to ‘UK congestion’ at ports. Lack of drivers is also affecting availability and increasing delays. Total cost of rice has increased dramatically year on year driven by freight rate spikes and limited import options from EBA (duty free) countries. However, pressure is on Italy’s supply to fulfil domestic demand, and price of global rice is so expensive that it is not a viable option to meet the shortfall.

UK exports of food and drink are down £2.7bn (-15.9%) in the first three quarters of 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). This is largely due to a drop in sales to the EU of £2.4bn (-23.7%) resulting from new barriers to trade with the EU and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Exports to core markets including Germany (-44.5%), Italy (-43.3%) and Spain (-50.6%) have been particularly badly hit since 2019, while UK exports to Ireland – the industry’s biggest overseas market – are down more than a quarter since 2019. This represents a loss of nearly £0.75bn in sales. Global exports of whisky and salmon have started to recover, with sales of both products up 21% compared to 2020. All other major products, including beef (-18.4%), cheese (-13.2%) and pork (-5.7%) have continued to decline, with the exception of soft drinks which grew 11% from 2020. More positive news can be seen in non-EU markets in the past year, with exports up 11%, driven by a return to strong growth in China (+22.1%), Taiwan (+21.8%), the UAE (+18.3%), Japan (+10.6%) and Singapore (+5.4%). Imports have been badly impacted since 2019, with sales from the EU down nearly 11% in the nine months to September compared to pre-COVID levels – a fall of more than £2.5bn. Imports from the Netherlands (-19%), Ireland (-20.1%) and Germany (-33.1%) were most severely hit over the last two years. With the UK due to implement its delayed import controls on products arriving from the EU in 2022, this will further impact the cost and availability of supplies of food and drink from the EU, including essential ingredients and raw materials required by UK manufacturers. Dominic Goudie, Head of International Trade, the FDF, said: “It is extremely disappointing to see how badly our trade with the EU has been affected, with our smallest exporters hardest hit. It is essential that the Government works constructively with the EU to improve the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to ensure that it works for small businesses, otherwise this downturn will be here to stay. “The UK Government’s recent announcement of plans to take forward the FDF’s proposals to set up a new Food and Drink Export Council and put in place new in-market support are welcome. It is vital that the UK Government and devolved nations continue to work with industry to put in place a new model of partnership to support food and drink exporters. “Food and drink, from farm-to-fork is uniquely placed to deliver on the Government’s levelling up agenda, delivering jobs and growth in every part of the UK. However, our supply chains continue to struggle, particularly through a lack of available workers. Businesses want to help the Government realise its Global Britain ambitions, but they need Government to clear the obstacles and help them take advantage of new opportunities.” John Whitehead, Food & Drink Exporters Association (FDEA), said: “The much-needed bounce back for salmon, whisky and soft drink exports is a real boost for the industry. It’s also encouraging to see meat sales to ASEAN countries rising driven by an increasing demand for pork. Our In Market Associates in both ASEAN and GCC markets report that there is also strong demand for added value products from the UK. It is the SME producers of value-added products hit hard by both Brexit and the pandemic who continue to need support to take advantage of these opportunities.”