According to figures released by the Food and Drink Federation, food and drink exports from the UK achieved £10.2 billion (US$13.1bn) in the first half of this year – the largest H1 food and drink exports value on record.
During the period, stronger export growth was recorded to the EU (+9%) compared with non-EU countries (+7.6%). Ireland, France and the US remained the top three destinations for UK food and drink in value terms, while whisky, salmon and beer were the top three exported products.
Whisky exports from the UK increased 3.7% by value to £1.3bn, beer exports grew 18.4% to £313m and the UK’s gin sector saw gains of 4% to £235m.
Growth was registered in all top 20 markets for UK exports, except Japan and Spain, which declined by 2% and 17.6% respectively. Spain was hit by a drop in commodity exports such as wheat and barley, according to the FDF.