Jubilee family fry up in danger from global food emergency

The Jubilee family fry up is in danger from the world economic crisis with a  40p price hike this year for the British staple according to market research giant Kantar as the UN has warned of an “acute” global food and inflation crisis due to the war in Ukraine.

With many full English fans looking to tuck in next weekend to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “People are really feeling the squeeze at the tills and they are having to stretch their budgets further to accommodate rising prices.

“To put the most recent numbers into context, if you were picking up supplies for a family fry-up over the long weekend with toast, eggs, sausages, bacon, and beans, it would cost you £6.83 – that’s a significant 40p increase on last year.”

UK grocery prices are now rising at their fastest rate since 2009.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos today (Tuesday) David Beasley, executive director of the UN Food Agency, warned some countries were headed for “hell on earth” this year if Ukrainian exports did not resume. Both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of wheat, vegetable oils and fertiliser for crops.

The world is headed toward “the worst food crisis in recent history, compounded by the additional pressure of high energy prices”, according to a WEF report released this week.

The situation was compounded early this morning as two of the largest food producers released financial figures.

British food supplier Cranswick today said it had been hit with an “unprecedented” set of “challenges”, as staffing and supply chain issues batter the logistics and production industries, despite the company delivering revenues above £2 billion for the first time.

Fellow food production giant Ireland’s Greencore also reported interim half year results. Group revenue was up 33.6% to £770.8 million.

The company addressed the problems in supply chains and food price inflation, and said that its results had been a “great achievement against a backdrop of mobility restrictions, supply challenges and emerging inflation.”