London, UK: UK electors go to the polls on 4 July to elect a new government. “The general election on July 4th marks a real fork in the road for the food supply chain,” says Cold Chain Federation chief executive Phil Pluck.
“The next government must provide new support to help tackle major food supply chain challenges and also to enable our industry to help spur national economic growth, hasten progress towards net zero and safeguard food supply.
Since the 1992 Cadbury Report recommendation that companies stop making contributions to political parties, business has been more circumspect about political viewpoints. Most chief executives have their own political opinions but prefer to keep them to themselves. That does not mean businesses do not have their own wish-lists of policies.
This is particularly true of small businesses. Their wish-list has not changed in the last couple of decades and is topped by wanting a change in the law to enforce prompt payments from larger businesses to their suppliers and the reform of business rates, which is also a bugbear for larger companies in sectors such as retail and hospitality.
Higher up the corporate food chain, what big businesses crave most is clarity and consistency in policy.
“The next government must provide new support to help tackle major food supply chain challenges and also to enable our industry to help spur national economic growth, hasten progress towards net zero and safeguard food supply,” Pluck says.
“For example, a clear strategy for overcoming grid capacity restrictions at logistics sites is essential to overcoming this severe inhibition to green investment, and the next Government must work alongside businesses on a forward-looking plan for the food chain labour market and skills development.
“We are asking the parties campaigning to form the next government to include responsibility for the cold chain within the portfolio of a single government minister who be able to would spearhead cross-departmental work, enable rapid response to any threats to the integrity of perishable supply chains, and help ensure fulfilment of the temperature-controlled food supply chain’s great contribution to the economy, net zero and public health.”
