Report

Strategic Review 2024/25

12 June 2025

This year’s strategic review shows what FDF has delivered for our members, and in partnership with others, over the past year, and what we plan to do next.

Shaping the future of food and drink manufacturing together

Food and drink manufacturing - the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, accounts for 24% of all manufacturing, contributing £37bn to the economy.

FDF represents our members on a wide range of issues, from trade to employment and skills, environmental sustainability, packaging, food law, safety and nutrition.

Our members range from small startups and family-owned businesses to large multinational companies. We offer expert advice and support, working with them to engage the UK’s governments alongside regulators, partners and othe stakeholders on behalf of our sector.

Our mission is to foster a business environment that enables our members — and the industry at large — to prosper and thrive, while ensuring that collectively we play a constructive role in the economy and society, investing in and growing local communities.

Shaping the future of food and drink manufacturing together

Food and drink manufacturing - the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, accounts for 24% of all manufacturing, contributing £37bn to the economy.

FDF represents our members on a wide range of issues, from trade to employment and skills, environmental sustainability, packaging, food law, safety and nutrition.

The year in highlights

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Scroll through our highlights from the past year.

Drink factory production line fruit juice beverage product at conveyor belt.

Ensuring a successful circular economy

Over the past year, FDF has worked hard with government, retailers, NGOs and others to improve the design and implementation of the UK’s packaging reforms. We want to ensure the UK develops a successful and cost-effective circular economy in packaging that’s value for money for our members. Our work is helping to ensure the UK has an efficient, industry-led Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, a UK wide Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), and an effective FDF-led Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) into for EPR.

Packaging guidance for members

Shaping trade policy to work better for members

We’ve pressed for improvements to UK border and trade policy, so these work better for members and consumers. This has saved businesses an estimated £250M per year by limiting the scope of ‘not for EU labelling’. We’ve worked to influence the Windsor Framework, the Border Target Operating Model and free trade agreement negotiations from the Gulf Cooperation Council to US, EU and India. We have provided guidance and advice to help members manage these changes and take advantage of new trade agreements to boost business.

International trade guidance

Supporting balanced diets

Through industry-led innovation and strategic advocacy, we’ve driven tangible health improvements—from cutting salt, sugar, and calories in food products to influencing government policy on nutrition. Our Action on Fibre initiative added 190 million extra servings of fibre to UK diets, while our reformulation efforts in Scotland eliminated billions of calories in partnership with government bodies. We’ve elevated industry leadership through media coverage, parliamentary tastings, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring food companies are recognized for their proactive health commitments. With Wales now aligning HFSS promotion regulations with England, we’re creating a simpler, more consistent business landscape while continuing to push for UKwide reformulation partnerships that benefit public health.

Innovation for healthier diets

Building a sustainable food system

In 2024 we launched Ambition 2030, our industry’s flagship environmental sustainability strategy. This focuses on ensuring our members get practical guidance and support at every stage of their journey and is designed to drive collaboration across the supply chain. We saved food and drink manufacturers an estimated £70m per year by negotiating a new phase of Climate Change Agreements until 2030, providing long-term clarity for planning and investment in sustainability.

Ambition 2030

Ensuring food safety

We’ve worked to ensure food safety regulations are not only robust, but also agile enough to reflect the changing environment in which our members operate. This includes alerting members to changes in EU legislation and where this diverges with the UK across all key food safety and labelling legislative areas. We have also launched new guidance for the management of changes to allergen information, aimed at small and medium sized businesses.

Food safety & labelling guidance

Working with governments across the UK to support members

Underpinning all of our work is FDF’s engagement with the UK’s governments and parliaments to ensure they understand the critical role of food and drink manufacturing to our economy and society. This includes engaging with Secretaries of State, Ministers, MPs, MSPs and MSs from every party to highlight key industry priorities and barriers to growth FDF is representing the industry’s interests as the UK and devolved governments develops their food, industrial, trade, environmental and health strategies.

Working with government

Making the case for members against a backdrop of inflation

We helped members by making the case for supply-chain fairness and better retailer relationships. We engaged the Government, the Bank of England and the media on the causes and impacts of the economic pressures which have led to persistent high inflation, and explained how the industry has worked to shield shoppers and mitigate a costof- living crisis, all with a view to ensuring adaptive and sensitive government policy.

Insights & analysis

Providing the ingredients for growth

We have helped government understand the investment and growth barriers our members face, so that these are reflected in the Industrial Strategy and Food Strategy. Our ‘Ingredients for Growth’ report sets out 40 key actions to remove barriers and boost innovation, while the Food and Drink Technology Task Force was set up to accelerate AI, automation, and digital transformation based on Newton’s ‘Future Factory’ report. We pushed for reform to the Growth and Skills Levy and apprenticeship funding alignment across the UK. On employment rights, we sought to ensure legislative changes strike the right balance between worker protections and business flexibility.

Ingredients for growth

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