Horticulture is the 'canary in the coal mine' for British food production as four out of five UK berry growers said they expected to grow less fruit in the future.
A survey by British Summer Fruits (BSF) confirmed that labour shortages and uncertainty following Brexit has pushed berry companies into looking abroad to survive, with 14 per cent already considering overseas opportunities.
Professor Tim Lang, founder of the Centre of Food Policy, said the government was ‘in dereliction of its duty’ by dragging its heels on creating a labour and food strategy, with fruit growers' woes acting as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ for UK agriculture.
“Horticulture is a test case for what going wrong about Brexit. Britain has no food plan. The embryonic 25 year food plan has been quietly shelved, it was at least something that was going to emerge.
“The government's ‘health and harmony’ strategy contains nothing about health and nothing about food.
“This is crazy and irresponsible policy. We’re now two years on since Brexit and nothing has happened. I say the government is in dereliction of its duty by not planning the future of our food.”
A survey of growers by BSF affirms worrying trends in horticultural employment which is hitting their ability to recruit and invest in future growth.
Out of 1,796 people surveyed online, 61 per cent said it has become more difficult to recruit seasonal workers, with two thirds reporting a drop in applications.
As a result, 32 per cent of companies have already made the decision to invest less in their business in the future and 14 per cent are already considering opportunities to grow outside of the UK.
Nick Marston, head of British Summer Fruits, said this would impact on the freshness, quality and price of fruit on the shelf. “Any fall in home grown production not only increases our dependence on imported fruit, but it will inevitably lead to significant price rises too,” he said.
He expressed disbelief that the industry was still waiting for clarity on a seasonal worker scheme (SAWS).
“We are not talking about migration we are talking about a proven system which would allow seasonal workers into the UK to undertake demanding and highly skilled jobs, jobs which British workers either are not available to do, or quite frankly don’t want to do.”
Marston cited other countries such as Germany, Portugal and Ireland who have already introduced non-EU seasonal worker schemes, with Germany benefitting from Ukranian workers helping harvest their fruit and vegetables.
“All we want is a level playing field, to compete for labour,” Marston reiterated.
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