Analysts say impact on wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape harvests means price rises on beer, bread and biscuits and more food importedUK harvests of important crops could be down by nearly a fifth this year due to the unprecedented wet weather farmers have faced, increasing the likelihood that the prices of bread, beer and biscuits will rise.Analysis...

Farmers, even more than consumers, need a stable and predictable global food systemThe small indulgence of chocolate is becoming a more costly one. Soaring prices for cocoa beans recently hit a record $12,000 a tonne: roughly four times last year’s price. Many think they will go higher. That means smaller or more expensive bars and reformulated recipes...

Stanton & Novelty is one of 10 Blackpool businesses that handmakes UK rock, but cheap imports and MP scandals are frustrating attempts to gain geographical protectionToday, Parma Violet, bubblegum and salted caramel flavours are being made. On other days, it could be banoffee pie, hot chilli, the nuclear-strength super sour or, for an afterwork...

Sort of: this week will see inspections of some goods. But the hit to businesses and inflation will be inescapableWhen Michael Gove announced the first delay to post-Brexit checks on plant and animal products coming into the UK from the EU, he was keen to make one thing clear.“Although we recognise that many in the border industry and many businesses...

Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks were due to start next week but committee raises concerns over delays to planMPs have cast doubt over the UK government’s readiness for post-Brexit border control checks, which are due to come in next week, arguing that a scaling back of its plans appeared to represent a sixth delay to their long-awaited introduction.The...

Scheme for plastic bottles and cans put back to 2027 while environment minister says glass recycling ‘unduly’ complex A UK deposit return scheme for recycling drinks bottles has been delayed to 2027, meaning it will not be in place until almost a decade after it was proposed.Campaigners say the delay is a “huge disappointment”, adding they are doubly...