5. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs: The Food and Drink Industry

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:37 pm on 23 January 2018.

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Photo of Mike Hedges Mike Hedges Labour 4:37, 23 January 2018

I welcome the statement by the Cabinet Secretary. I think we should all welcome that, since November 2016, the industry sales turnover has increased from £6.1 billion to £6.9 billion, and I think we should all be really pleased that we stand on the threshold of the £7 billion target towards sustainable growth in the food and drink action plan, set in 2014, to be reached by 2020—and it looks as if were going to reach it early.

As the Cabinet Secretary is aware, the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee are carrying out an inquiry into food and drink in Wales at the moment. As part of it, I was talking to Welsh producers both at the Royal Welsh Show and the National Eisteddfod. I was intrigued by how easy companies told me it was to get the supermarkets to promote their Welsh products in all of Wales. Now, the difficulty, they said, was getting their products across the border. This included companies that were based in Flintshire who found it easier to get a supermarket to put it in their Welsh section in Swansea than they did to put it in Chester and have a Welsh section in Chester. Has this issue been raised with the Cabinet Secretary, and if not, can, perhaps, the Cabinet Secretary talk to some people who process food in Wales to see if that is a general problem?

As people know, I take a great interest in parts of Europe such as Aarhus. Aarhus has three major food processors: Arla, Lurpak and Castello. What would I find if I went to a supermarket in Denmark—what would be the Welsh equivalent? I think, if the answer's nothing, which I think it probably is, that's really our challenge, isn't it? One of the growth areas in food and drink has been microbreweries, such as West by Three and Boss in Swansea East, as well as small and growing independent breweries such as Tomos Watkin, also in Swansea East, and Tiny Rebel in Newport. What support is the Welsh Government giving to this industry, which really has been a growth industry in the Welsh economy over the last 10 years?