The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents 12,000 food and drink manufacturers, hiked its inflation forecast for the year in light of the conflict. Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband hosted supermarket bosses, including from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, for talks at No 11 on Wednesday. It comes as economists for the FDF predicted food inflation will reach at least 9% by the end of the year, up from the 3.2% that it had forecast in September last year. Disruption to oil and gas markets is having a direct and immediate impact on production costs for UK food and drink manufacturers, the FDF said. Dr Liliana Danila, FDF’s chief economist, said: “The food and drink sector is already feeling the force of this geopolitical shock.

Source: The Times April 01, 2026 19:10 UTC