Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Food industry in the UK - statistics & facts
The food industry encompasses all activities from farming and food production to retailing and food services. Over 18.3 million hectares of farmland are used by the food industry in the UK for animal husbandry and to grow crops. The production output of the UK's food industry is not sufficient to feed the country, and only approximately 58 percent of food consumed in the country was made there. Slightly less than a quarter of all food consumed in the UK comes from the European Union. The revenue of the entire food market in the UK is estimated to be just under 179 billion British pounds.
Providing food for the Nation
On the production side, over 9400 enterprises in the UK are manufacturing food products. Of that total, about 1,170 generated a turnover over five million British pounds. Sales from the manufacture of food in the UK amount to a combined 82.3 billion British pounds. Dairy and cheese making achieve the second-highest manufacturing sales, only exceeded by the sales from the processing and preserving of meat. This does not include poultry meat, the processing and preserving of which by itself generates the seventh-highest manufacturing sales.How the sausage gets made
The UK meat industry can be broken down into three major parts, which are the production of meat (including poultry), poultry meat processing, and the processing of other meats. Measured in turnover (revenue) the latter is the largest part of the industry. Processing of meat generated 10.8 billion British pounds in turnover. Poultry processing accounted for 6.2 million pounds and production of all meats for 6.9 billion pounds in revenue. Together, the industry revenue came to 23.9 billion British pounds. This accounts for the production and processing side of things. Retail sales of meat add another 25.6 billion in revenue.
