The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has welcomed the publication of the Government’s UK Food and Drink International Action Plan 2016-2020, designed to help accelerate UK export growth and boost the confidence and ambition of those wishing to export food and drink produce.

Great British FoodDeveloped jointly with Government and industry bodies, including the BBPA, the International Action Plan details a three-point plan to boost UK food and drink exports:

  • Raising ambition — encouraging companies to export for the first time and, for those who already do, to export more. The report wants to encourage key target markets to choose UK products and consumers worldwide to create demand for them.
  • Increasing capability — exporting can be challenging, and companies need to have the information, innovation, finance and skills to be successful. The Government and industry will continue their efforts to raise the overall productivity and skills of the sector.
  • Identifying opportunities — building volume and opening trade opportunities in key markets, as well as creating new demand in third countries.

The BBPA has been a key supporter of DEFRA’s Great British Food Campaign, and has run trade shows for UK brewers in Italy, in 2015, and earlier this month in Germany. Both of these countries were identified in the Government’s new Action Plan as being ripe for further alcohol export opportunities.

The UK beer industry already exports to more than 100 countries and territories worldwide, with UK beer exports worth an estimated £500 million in 2015 alone.

The BBPA, in response to the new Action Plan, is refreshing its own sector-specific export strategy, which was originally published in 2013. The BBPA’s export strategy will be published on the BBPA website later in the year.

BBPA chief executive, Brigid Simmonds, said: “The challenges of Brexit will be felt in the coming years, however, and it is vital that the UK seizes every opportunity to increase exports, with tariff-free access to EU markets, and no red tape for exporters, helping the UK food and drink industry to continue to build on their existing export success.”