Veryan Bliss, an advisor to the European Union’s ‘More Than Only Food & Drink’ campaign, tells FPJ about how the initiative aims to bolster demand for European produce in the UK
What are the key messages and goals of the campaign?
More Than Only Food & Drink’ is a dedicated communication campaign to champion the outstanding qualities of EU food and beverage products to UK food industry professionals. It highlights the continent’s food safety, quality, authenticity, and sustainability credentials. The project has been developed to further strengthen awareness and appreciation among UK food businesses of the key characteristics that make EU food and beverage products stand out from other sources.
The awareness drive will focus specifically on six product categories, including fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. Rather than focusing on specific fruits and vegetables, the campaign is highlighting best practice across the EU’s member states to showcase the quality and safety of EU produce, as well as the ambitious sustainability targets the EU is working hard to meet.
Brexit has increased the cost, complexity and time involved in importing fresh produce from the EU. How can this be mitigated?
Planning and partnerships are absolutely key. It is critical that product programmes are planned in good time, and the same goes for seed. If seed needs to be imported, this can take up to six weeks, whereas pre-Brexit, it could be delivered within 48 hours. This delay is causing significant challenges for propagators and producers.
Difficulties arise when many different suppliers of various products use one set of transport (groupage). So, if one of those products has incorrect paperwork, then the whole vehicle could be held up for inspection. This creates significant delays for everyone with product on the vehicle.
My advice is to use experienced freight forwarders and customs clearing agents that are familiar with post-Brexit regulations. They can help ensure all paperwork is correctly filed and that shipments are compliant with both UK and EU regulations.
How can EU production countries maintain or improve their position in the UK market amid rising competition from countries such as Morocco?
EU production countries must maintain their point of difference by being nimble and providing a point of difference with high-quality, flavoursome, and fresh product. They should provide not only entry point products, but a portfolio covering the requirements and expectations of UK consumers. They must capitalise on their proximity to the UK for freshness of deliveries.
From a government perspective, it is essential that sufficient product inspectors are available in both the UK and Europe when needed to ensure that checks and paperwork can be completed efficiently and in a timely manner. This ensures the safety, integrity and quality of the products is maintained. Products stopped for checks at the border must be swiftly assessed and released.
It is worth noting that EU countries don’t operate quotas when supplying the UK, which can be impactful from both a volume and a cost perspective.
How big a difference will the recent de/reclassification of various fruits and vegetable imports make to facilitating fresh produce trade between the EU and the UK?
The work undertaken by the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) on behalf of the industry has been an absolute game-changer for the sector. Without their tireless lobbying, January 2025 would have been a very bleak time – not only for importers and packers, but also for consumers, with products held up for checks, quality diminishing and essential just-in-time delivery windows being missed. It would have been chaos.
The changes will also help reduce an element of the additional financial burden being imposed on product imported from the EU. It won’t remove all the charges being levied by government, but it will help.
The reclassification also has broader implications for maintaining strong trade relationships between the UK and EU. Without these adjustments, the industry would likely have experienced chaos at borders, with multiple suppliers, importers and retailers scrambling to manage delays. The FPC’s actions have effectively shielded the industry from the worst of the potential disruption.
What are the advantages of importing fresh produce from the EU in terms of quality and food safety?
Importing fresh produce from the EU has several advantages from a quality and food safety perspective. While many growers independently adopt GlobalGAP certification for their growing operations, and BRC or similar for their production operations, the EU maintains stringent food safety standards under the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the General Food Law Regulation.
These regulations ensure that fresh produce imported from the EU meets high safety standards, thereby reducing the risk of contamination by substances such as pesticides, heavy metals, and pathogens.
The EU food safety regulations require traceability of food products through all stages of production, processing, and distribution – as does the UK. This traceability helps in identifying the source of food products, ensuring that any potential safety issues can be tracked and addressed quickly.
Additionally, growers adhere to EU quality schemes such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), which promote traditional farming practices and ensure product authenticity.
Since the EU operates as a single market, there is harmonisation of food safety and quality standards across member states. This consistency ensures that fresh produce meets the same level of safety and quality, no matter where it comes from in the EU.
