For me, the most memorable feature of an otherwise underwhelming 2008 Budget was Mr Darling's blatant money grab on booze and fags. It took me straight back to the old days of chancellors like Barber, Healey, Howe and Lawson. Nowadays, the politics of food and drink are increasingly being focused on issues such as the environment, sustainability, obesity, binge drinking, labelling and healthy eating. So in some ways it was reassuring to be jolted down memory lane by the Treasury's plain need for more cash - and who knows, perhaps wholesalers took a modicum of stock profit along the way?
The resulting higher prices that consumers are now paying for alcohol and tobacco products will do little to improve the nation's health I suspect. But, it is a certainty that they will give a most unwelcome boost to the operations of the smugglers and fraudsters. The situation should be easier to assess by the time we get to the Federation of Wholesale Distributor's Drinksummit conference that is taking place at Cheltenham on June 23 and 24.
Duty fraud will be just one of a number of crucial subjects affecting the wholesale/independent channel's alcoholic drinks trade that will be debated at this influential event. An exciting programme focusing on the off-licence businesses of several independent retailers is well under construction and you can find more details and booking information on page 63.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office recently issued a discussion paper presenting an analysis of the key issues pertaining to food and food policy in the UK. While it is not a statement of Government policy, it is a comprehensive document that provides a useful insight to key trends.
For example, it recognises the growing importance of the foodservice market and points out that although UK consumers are spending a smaller proportion of their income on food than ever before, they are allocating a greater share of that outlay to eating out of home.
The report says national household expenditure on food and drink is £83bn a year compared to £79bn for national consumer expenditure on catering services.
With this in mind, the report states rather pointedly that policies directed at food and diet need to recognise the scale and significance of the foodservice market and our growing propensity to eat food out of the home. FWD will be standing by for more healthy eating legislation aimed at caterers and wholesalers who supply them.
Will Government proposals to ban the display of tobacco in retail premises damage the wholesale sector?
- 27 November, 2008
FWD Annual Dinner & Gold Medal Awards
