Birmingham, UK: Cold Chain Federation president Tim Moran has urged the government to help curb further food inflation by implementing an energy price cap for businesses in the food industry. The food business price cap is one of a suite of measures advocated in a new action plan including proposals to support an acceleration in the food industry’s transition to sustainable, resilient and green power.
Speaking at the Cold Chain Live! conference last week, Moran said: “The cold chain is being buffeted on all sides by the inflation crisis. Keeping food cold is energy intensive in its very nature, and the cost of electricity for cold storage has at least doubled already and is going higher. Add the cost of diesel, wages and equipment and across both the storage and the distribution of fresh and frozen food, our industry is experiencing increases far beyond what we can absorb. We are a very resilient industry but we are very concerned about the coming months.
“It has been short-sighted of government to think only about the direct cost of energy to domestic consumers: an energy price cap for food industry businesses is essential to tackling food price inflation,” he said.
“Looking to food chain resilience in the medium and longer term, we are urging government to work with us to accelerate the transition to a new kind of electricity network where businesses like cold stores are not just users of powers, but generators and stores of energy as part of a more resilient,
greener infrastructure,” Moran said.
The measures detailed in the Cold Chain Energy Access Crisis Action Plan include:
- extend any price cap or other market intervention to all businesses in the food supply chain
- ensure food supply chain is a priority industry for supply in the event of hopefully unlikely shortages this winter
- fast track planning applications for midscale renewables, especially wind and subsidise connection costs
- increase access to Renewable Energy Generation and Storage Installation grants / loans
- extend energy-efficiency incentives for energy-intensive businesses through the Climate Change Agreement scheme
- transition to demand response and fully incentivise intensive industries that can play a role in grid balancing.
The government’s plans to address the energy crisis include a freeze on domestic bills at around £2,500 and equivalent support for businesses for six months. However, hundreds of businesses are already urging the chancellor to offer details about the support they’ll receive with their energy bills.
A letter to new chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was signed by 300 companies and written by Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality.
