The Food & Drink Federation (FDF) said the UK’s top three export products remained whisky, chocolate and salmon.
In addition, export growth to non-EU countries (+9.4%) increased at a faster rate than those to the EU (+7.4%).
The top three destinations for UK food and drink in terms of overall value were Ireland, France and the United States, but growth was reported in all top 20 markets apart from Spain (a 21.6% decrease compared with 2016).
The three export markets that saw the greatest percentage growth in value in Q1 were: South Korea (+40.3%), where beer was the key driver, Belgium (+37.3%), where wheat and barley were behind the rise in exports, and South Africa (+31.2%) with animal feed.
FDF said that while the fall in the price of the pound helped to boost UK export competitiveness, currency weakness also led to an increase in the cost of many essential imported ingredients and raw materials, resulting in the UK's food and drink trade deficit increasing by 19% to -£6.2bn in Q1 2017.
Says FDF director-general Ian Wright: “The growth of food and alcoholic drink exports we've seen in Q1 is very encouraging news for our industry. We want to work with government to take advantage of increased demand for UK products overseas and the opportunities that leaving the EU is expected to create. We would encourage the new government to look to Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) as inspiration in creating an organisation to help turbocharge sales of UK food and drink globally.
“It is also very pleasing to see non-EU exports performing beyond expectations. As the UK leaves the EU growth in exports is hugely important to our sector. We hope that with the determination of businesses and the assistance of the new government, we can open more channels and provide a further boost to the UK's competitiveness on the world market.”
