Confidence levels slump for food and drink companies

Confidence is tumbling among Britain's food and drink manufacturers, as inflationary pressures including energy, labour and raw material costs gain pace, according to a survey by the industry body.

- Joanna Partridge

Business confidence plummeted to -47% in the final three months of last year, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), down from -6% in the previous quarter, as companies in the sector were hit by measures announced in the October budget.

The confidence score among the country's 12,500 food and drink businesses is at its lowest level since the final quarter of 2022, a time when inflation was surging after Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.

Rising energy and commodity costs are among the pressures facing food and drink manufacturers in the coming year, according to the FDF's state of industry report, as well as the costs associated with government policies, such as changes to employers' national insurance contributions (NICs).