Ideagen says supermarkets must listen to food producers

Christina Jackson, Head of Quality at Ideagen, says decision makers must listen to growers and food producers who are adding environmental factors into their risk registers. 

Jackson has spoken out following recent research by the software firm that showed a 10-fold increase since 2018 in organisations citing weather and climate as a risk to their ability to operate and nearly a third of organisations also cited supply chain issues as a major concern. 

“You could say we’re currently experiencing the perfect storm for food shortages in the UK and it’s something food producers have become increasingly concerned about," says Jackson.

“Research we conducted recently, due to be published in the coming weeks, reveals that worry over weather and environmental risk factors had jumped significantly for UK food producers of all sizes. 

“Compared with pre-pandemic and pre-Brexit data from 2018, 2022 analysis shows a ten-fold increase in organisations citing weather and climate as a risk to their ability to operate. What’s more, nearly a third of organisations also cited supply chain issues as a major concern.

“Whilst retailers are reassuring consumers that this is a temporary problem, it’s pushed the fragility of food security in the UK and across Europe front and centre. We urge those making decisions to listen to the growers and food producers who understand their end-to-end supply chains and are adding these environmental factors into their risk registers. While weather may be seasonal, it’s also annual. The solution will require intergovernmental collaboration," she added. 

Ideagen research methodology

The food and drink market was segmented into three tiers: those businesses with turnover in excess of £250 million, those in the £100-£250 million bracket, and those with turnover between £20-£100 million, for the research.

From each tier Ideagen randomly selected 50 firms, and examined their audited published accounts, lodged with Companies House and noted the specific risks highlighted in every enterprise’s Risks and Uncertainties statement. The same group of companies were selected each year to ensure consistency in type of business/product and management structure.

For every size category of business, ‘environment’ and ‘weather’ experienced the biggest jump in the ‘league table’ of risk – an average of 10 places in every category.