UK food and drink exports broke a new record in the first half (H1) of 2017, exceeding £10 billion for the first time ever recorded over a half-period.
A report in The Guardian suggests that success was boosted by strong demand for British alcohol products such as craft beers in East Asia – particularly in South Korea, where sales of such products surpassed shellfish, ice cream and whisky in the year to June 2017.
According to the latest research from the Food & Drink Federation, France, Ireland and the USA currently rank as the top three destinations for British food and drink exports.
Despite this, however, South Korea was the fastest-growing market for export activity during H1 of 2017.
The Food & Drink Federation’s figures reveal that, in the period studied, beer sales to the nation surged by more than 420 per cent year-on-year, reaching an astonishing £59.3 million.
As a result of this, British export revenues in the food and drink sector were up by 77 per cent in H1.
According to reports, increasingly ‘trendy’ brands such as Brewdog and other big names in craft beer are rising in popularity in South Korea, while sales of such products also remain high across Europe and America.