electronic Global Trade Credit Platform/eGTCP's Blog: Brexit Effect

Brexit is a word means the UK leaving the EU - merging the words Britain and exit to get Brexit,is same as a possible Greek exit from the euro was dubbed Grexit in the past.

UK shoppers are "completely in the dark" about the effect Brexit will have on their weekly shop, a former Sainsbury's boss said.

Justin King, who ran the supermarket for a decade, said the "last thing" any current supermarket boss would reveal was their intention to put up prices.

But he added it was "very clear" shoppers would face "higher prices, less choice and poorer quality".

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Food and farming combined are the UK's biggest manufacturing sector and the EU is involved all along the chain - from what grows in British fields to the labels in shops.

Media captionEx-Sainsbury's boss warns Brexit will impact our weekly shop.

The EU also guarantees free trade across the continent and Mr King - who supported Remain - said this frictionless movement kept food prices down.

Mr King, who has said the weaker pound will push up prices, added that EU membership helped retailers find the best suppliers and markets throughout Europe.

He also said the EU had driven up standards and enabled the UK to get out-of-season vegetables all year round.

EU tariffs

But manufacturing boss and Vote Leave campaigner John Mills believes the EU keeps prices artificially high for the shopper.

He said: "Food prices inside the EU vary from food product to food product, but the average is something like 20% higher than they are in the rest of the world - so there is very substantial scope for food prices coming down if we switch sources of supply outside the EU."

Mr Mills, chairman of consumer goods firm JML, said cheaper prices may not mean lower standards.

He said: "The reason why food prices are higher inside the EU is because they have got tariffs which keep the prices up.

"It's not anything to do with quality - it's due to the institutional arrangements with means the food prices are kept much higher to increase farmers' incomes."

'Once in a lifetime'

Jacob Anthony, a 24-year-old fifth generation beef and sheep farmer who runs a 700-acre farm in Bridgend, Wales, voted to leave the EU.

"I'm a young farmer and I'm looking to the future," he said. "I think a lot of us in the industry were not happy with the way the sector was going and I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for realistic change."

Farmer Jacob Anthony hopes that leaving the EU will open up export opportunities.

Mr Anthony said leaving the EU would give British farmers a chance to strike new trade deals and push into new emerging markets.

Last year, 13% of UK-produced beef was exported, according to the AHDB, whose spokesman said it was largely the bits British shoppers did not want.

'Get on the agenda'

Conservative MP James Cleverly insists that the UK doesn't "have to just roll over" in Brexit negotiations.

He said: "We are a highly desirable market. That actually gives us some strength in the negotiations."

For Mr Mills, it is the establishment who "doesn't really like Brexit".

"And they are throwing up difficulties all over the place, which I don't think are going to materialise to anything like the extent to which they claim," he said.

Ex-Sainsbury's boss Mr King is concerned, however, that "there has been, in my estimation, almost no conversation about the potential impact of Brexit on the food supply chain by definition".

He said with less than two years to go until Brexit, "food needs to get on the agenda pretty soon".

Defra said: "We will not in any way dilute high quality environmental standards, we will make sure our environment and animal welfare are protected."

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