Recently, our Food and drink team attended the ‘Future of Food’ event hosted by Lloyds Corporate and Institutional, and Fooditude by Sodexo. The central theme of the event was to explore whether the current pressures on the food system are risks to be managed, or one of the greatest investment opportunities of the coming decade.
It was a thought-provoking session, featuring multiple panels and breakout groups to discuss what a different food system could look like. The central question posed at the event is increasingly urgent. Current challenges in the UK food landscape, from climate shocks to labour shortages, mirror many of the systemic issues highlighted across industry reports and strategic reviews. Taken together, the discussion made one thing clear: the UK food system is at a crossroads, with resilience and innovation now core drivers of competitiveness, not optional extras.
Here are our key takeaways from the discussion:
- The food system is under strain, but proving its capacity to adapt. Speakers highlighted that whilst the system is ‘less calm than we want it to be’, underlined that there is resilience within it, demonstrated through major shocks such as COVID-19
- Sustainability has shifted from a ‘hard sell’ to non-negotiable. On a day with 60+ flood warnings, it was clear to all that climate change is no longer a future scenario, but a certainty that our food system must cope with. It’s not all doom and gloom, with potential opportunities including changing climates allowing different produce to be sustainably grown in the UK
- Technology is a key transformative force ahead, but funding is lagging. From precision agriculture to digital traceability, technology is reshaping the food system fast. However, the UK food system has significantly less investment in research and development compared to industries like pharma or aerospace
- The UK’s structural barriers are real, especially for scale up. The UK has world-class research, strong retailers and innovative chefs and food entrepreneurs. However, there is poor access to affordable scale up facilities and slow, resource-intensive regulatory pathways
- The investment opportunity lies in solving systemic problems. Whether it’s food waste, technology-enabled resilience or building scale-up facilities, there are a huge number of opportunities to solve systemic problems across the UK food system
The diverse range of stakeholders from across the food system provided valuable end-to-end perspectives, and it was inspiring to be part of the discussion.
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