A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has added another authoritative voice to growing concerns over the resilience of the UK food supply chain.

Published today, the report acknowledges that the food industry has proved remarkably resilient through recent shocks, including Covid and the war in Ukraine. However, it warns that the risks facing the system, from extreme weather and disease outbreaks to cyber-attacks and energy disruption, are becoming more likely and potentially more severe. Farming Today this morning had a good interview with Rich Sullivan Jones, the report’s Director explaining the concerns (listen from 8:35 minutes).

The NAO concludes that Defra’s actions in recent years have not been sufficient to ensure the supply chain is prepared for a catastrophic disruption and calls for much closer engagement with industry when developing and testing emergency plans.

This reinforces concerns BMPA has been raising for some time. The efficiency of the UK’s highly interconnected, just-in-time food supply chain is also a potential vulnerability when disruption occurs. Resilience cannot simply be assumed because the system has successfully weathered previous crises.

The NAO is now calling on Defra to reassess its preparedness, work more closely with food supply chain businesses and learn from resilience measures adopted in other countries and other critical national infrastructure sectors. We will be looking more closely at the findings and what they could mean for the meat industry over the coming weeks.