Food and drink industry in England

Overview of food and drink industry in England

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The food and drink industry is an important sector in the English economy consisting of hot and alcoholic beverages[a], spices, cereals, livestock, fisheries, sugar and honey.[1]

The total value of England's food and drinks exports is £10.2bn as of 2021.[2]

Examples of food

and drink in England

## Trade

[edit]

The value of food and drink exports in England were down by 9% from 2020 and 15% from 2019.

England's best selling beverages were worth 2.3bn, up 8% in 2021, however England's fruit and vegetable exports were hit hard with sales down by 36%.

The top export destination for food and drinks exports from England is Ireland with 15% of all exports at a value of 1.5bn in 2021, this is down by 25% from 2020.

France and US with exports up 12% and 10% respectively along with Germany and the Netherlands are also among the top 5 markets for the English food and drink exports.[3]

## Categories

[edit]

The top food and drinks export categories are:

* Beverages (such as English sparkling wine, and English whisky) (£2.3bn)
* Miscellaneous worth (£1.7bn)
* Agriculture [b] (Cereals, Vegetables, Livestock)
* Coffee, tea and spices[c] (£1.2bn)
* Dairy products (£778.7mn)
* Fish and Seafood (£357.8mn)
* Sugar and Honey worth (£245.4mn)[4]

## Fisheries

[edit]

Main article: Fishing industry in England

A book about English fisheries in the Lake District

As of 2021 the total value of freshwater fisheries in England is £1.7bn.[5]

In 2019 the most caught salt water fish and crustacean by English trawlers were:[d]

* North East Atlantic Mackerel (15,209tns) (17%)
* North Sea Herring (9,925tns)(19%)
* North Sea Haddock (3,847tns)(20%)
* North Sea Cod (2,135tns)(36%)
* North Sea Whiting (2,186tns)(24%)
* Southern Sea Crab (8,014tns)
* North East Atlantic Blue Whiting (3,810tns)(3%)
* West of Scotland Nephrops (8,025tns)(8%)
* North Sea Anglerfish (1,170tns)(20%)
* Eastern English Channel Scallops (959tns)[6]

## Agriculture

[edit]

Main article: Agriculture in England

An example of English crops in Berwick upon Tweed

As of 2023 the total value of Agricultural in England is £1.8bn.

This covers a variety of Areas including:

* Cereals
* Vegetables
* Livestock[e][7]

## Alcoholic beverages

[edit]

### English Wine

[edit]

Main articles: English sparkling wine and Wine from the United Kingdom

Bottles of prestige cuvees from English sparkling wine producers.

In 2018 England sold 550,000 bottles of English to 50 countries worldwide, this is up from 256,000 in 2018.[8]

In 2022 the total value of English wine exports was £9.6 million ($11.8 million) with 800,000 bottles sold.[9]

Some major English Wine brands include: Ridgeview Bloomsbury, Bolney Wine Estate, Lyme Bay, Aldwick Court Farm, Hattingley Valley, Lyme Block, Chapel Down, Brightwell Vineyard, and Stopham Estate.[10]

### English Whisky

[edit]

Main article: English whisky

As of 2023 there are currently 38,000 casks of English whisky maturing with an estimated 50,000 casks expected to be laid down by 2024, the estimated value of the maturing whisky stock is £1bn.[11]

Some notable English Whisky brands include: English Whisky Co, Cotswolds, The Lakes, Bimber, The Oxford Artisan, and Dartmoor.[12]

## Hot beverages and spices

[edit]

The total value of coffee, tea, cocoa and Yorkshire and spices in Yorkshire and the Humber as of 2019 is £1.2bn.[13]

## Geographical indications

[edit]

### Active geographic indicators

[edit]

Main article: List of United Kingdom food and drink products with protected status

As of 2024 there are currently 36 active geographical indications for England: 14 cheese, 9 alcoholic drinks, 4 seafood, 6 meat, 1 dairy and 2 Fruit and vegetable products.[14]

Name  | Category  | Citation

|
|

1\. Beacon Fell traditional Lancashire cheese

2\. Bonchester cheese

3\. Buxton Blue

4\. Dorset Blue Cheese

5\. Dovedale cheese

6\. Exmoor Blue Cheese

7\. Staffordshire Cheese

8\. Swaledale cheese

9\. Swaledale ewes' cheese

10\. Teviotdale cheese

11\. West Country farmhouse Cheddar Cheese

12\. White Stilton cheese / Blue Stilton cheese

13\. Yorkshire Wensleydale

14\. Single Gloucester

| Cheese  | [14]
15\. English Wine

16\. English Regional Wine

17\. Gloucestershire cider / perry

18\. Herefordshire cider / perry

19\. Kentish ale and Kentish strong ale

20\. Rutland Bitter

21\. Somerset Cider Brandy

22\. Sussex Wine

23.Worcestershire cider / perry

| Alcohol
24\. Cornish Sardines

25\. London Cure Smoked Salmon

26\. Traditional Grimsby Smoked Fish

27\. Whitstable oysters

| Seafood
28\. Cornish Pasty

29\. Melton Mowbray Pork Pie

30\. Newmarket sausage

31\. Traditional Cumberland Sausage

32\. West Country Beef

33\. West Country Lamb

| Meat
34\. Cornish Clotted Cream | Dairy
35\. Vale of Evesham Asparagus

36\. Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb

| Fruit and Vegetables

### Geographical indicators under consideration

[edit]

As of 2024 there is currently 1 product under consideration for a geographical indication.

* English whisky[15]

## See also

[edit]

* Economy of the United Kingdom
* Economy of England

## Footnotes

[edit]

1. ^ This includes raw products such as coffee, tea and cocoa
2. ^ Agriculture covers multiple areas including
* Animal and vegetables oils/fats (£412.1mn)
* Cereals and cereal prep worth (£1.4bn)
* Vegetables in and fruit (£632.9mn)
* Meat and meat prep (£1.1bn)
3. ^ information about this is in the hot beverages and spices section
4. ^ % represents the percentage of the national quota
tns represents the tonnes of fish and crustacean caught.
5. ^ Livestock includes:
* Dairy
* Pork (pigs), beef (cows), poultry (chickens) and mutton (sheep)
* Eggs

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "UK Food and Drink Manufacturing Sector — Overview, Trends and Opportunities" (PDF). Enterprise Ireland. September 2020.
2. ^ "Mixed picture for regional food and drink exports in 2021". Farmers Weekly. 2022-05-10. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
3. ^ "North East leads national food and drink recovery as exports grow". The Northern Echo. 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
4. ^ Quinn, Ian; Mattinson, Alec (2022-05-13). "UK food and drink exports show patchy signs of recovery". The Grocer. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
5. ^ Cheyne, John (2021-09-09). "UK's Freshwater Fisheries Provide £1.7billion of economic benefit". Angling Trust. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
6. ^ "UK Fisheries Audit" (PDF). Oceana. 2021.
7. ^ "Farming in Lincolnshire – Lincolnshire Pride". Retrieved 2023-12-19.
8. ^ "Grape Britain: Exports of English wine have doubled – but will it last post-Brexit?". Coates and Seely. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
9. ^ Rozario, Kevin. "English Wine Gets A Boost From Chapel Down's Accelerating Sales". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
10. ^ "9 world-beating English Wines to try... | Great British Food Awards". Great British Food. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
11. ^ Carruthers, Nicola (April 25, 2023). "English Whisky Guild hires CEO". The Spirits Business.
12. ^ "Introduction to English Whisky". The Dram Team. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
13. ^ Casci, Mark (March 29, 2019). "Qatar demand sees Yorkshire food and drink exports soar to £1.2bn". The Yorkshire Post.
14. ^ a b "Geographical indications in the United Kingdom". www.tmdn.org. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
15. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Distillers submit GI application to firm-up English whisky rules". www.whiskymag.com. Retrieved 2024-04-15.