Food Processing

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 27 April 2022.

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Photo of Peter Fox Peter Fox Conservative 2:26, 27 April 2022

I thank the Member for Cardiff Central for raising what is an important and timely topic, and I agree that more Welsh food needs to be processed in Wales, particularly given the disruption to supply chains that we've seen in recent years. It is then regrettable that, as Professor Terry Marsden has previously put it, there has been a decline in and hollowing out of the food infrastructures in Wales. For example, the Farmers' Union of Wales recently pointed out that Wales has lost around 90 per cent of its slaughterhouses over the past three decades. Now, back in June 2019, the then Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee made a series of recommendations to the Welsh Government about food processing. This included undertaking a mapping exercise to determine the strength of the sector, as well as establishing an industry-led group to consider policy interventions to increase capacity, and to add value to supply chains. Minister, what progress has the Government made in implementing these recommendations to strengthen the food processing sector? Diolch.