The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has established Great British Food Unit intended to boost exports and create 5,000 jobs in food and drinks manufacturing sectors.
The partnership between the sector manufacturers and the government is buoyed by industry targeted growth of processed food exports by one-third (£6bn) by 2020.
The launch of the new Great British Food Unit is aimed to boost exports and support British companies such as Taylors of Harrogate, Nestle and Mr Kipling to expand their international business, thereby generating 5,000 additional jobs in the food and drinks manufacturing sectors.
The Unit aims to match France and Germany in the long-run, both of which export more than double the UK in terms of value of food and drink. The establishment of this Unit brings together experts in exports and investment from Defra and across the UK government to aid more businesses in gaining a global reach.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: "We produce more new food products each year than France and Germany combined. My long term aspiration is for the UK to match both these countries in terms of the value of exports so our food and drink becomes a worldwide phenomenon.
"It is vital for our economic future that we make British food and farming all it can be - over the next five years we will do that by backing big business, supporting punchy start-ups and embracing our rich food heritage."
The Great British Food Unit will support additional Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country's food industry, which recorded £60bn in 2014, which is almost a third of all FDI assets in the UK manufacturing.
The Unit will have a five-point agenda which includes encouraging foreign investment, gaining access to dairy and meat markets, tripling the number of apprentices and increasing the number of protected names, reported Foodmanufacture.co.uk.
At the launch of the Unit, Weetabix committed to source all of its wheat from local farmers, in order to render its support to the country's rural economy while also seeking to protect the environment.
In 2012, Chinese food company Bright Food had purchased 60% stake in Weetabix for £1.2bn in order to cater to the growing consumer markets in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing. The company's cereal is making its presence across 80 countries, including Africa, Germany, Spain and North America. Bright Food is also planning to open markets in East and Western Africa. These deals are intended to create more jobs for UK workers.
According to the UK government, Weetabix stands as an example of what the UK food and drink companies could achieve through the Great British Food Unit.
Image: Weetabix pledges to source wheat from local farmers. Photo: Courtesy of UK Government.
