What is Food & Drink Trade Finance?

The food and drink production industry is a powerhouse of UK exporting and a significant employer within and contributor to the wider UK economy. The UK also imports a significant amount of processed food and drink products from the EU and around the world as part of complex supply chains for supermarkets, wholesalers and individual consumers. Trade finance supports this flow of goods by providing liquidity to firms constrained by their cashflow, helping them to fulfil their orders in a timely and profitable manner.

Food & Drink Trade Finance

The UK has an international reputation for reliably producing quality food and drink products for international clients, and imports huge volumes of produce to satisfy its consumers’ increasingly diverse food tastes. Despite the UK exporting £18.1bn of food and drink products to over 200 countries and territories in 2015, huge demand exists for these products. At the same time, just a fifth of UK food and drink companies export, with exports accounting for just 19% of the turnover of the UK food and drink industry. Firms looking to import and export food products into the UK therefore face huge opportunities for profitable growth, if they can initiate or grow their ability to engage with international trade.

However, trade cycles represent a huge risk to firms whose business models rely on them servicing suppliers reliably as part of the just in time supply chain model. The lengthy delays caused by international transportation, the complexities of maintaining product quality on those journeys, and the risk of non-payment to suppliers not based in the same trade jurisdiction can all make food and drink firms apprehensive about engaging in international trade of their products. To assist with these risks, Trade Finance Global can offer access to trade finance funding and a suite of finance tools to support international ventures involving food and drink firms.

Products financed

Key food & drink products financed include:

Sausages, hams and other preserved meats
Processed or preserved meats
Offal and offal products
Processed or preserved fish and crustacean products
Processed or preserved potatoes and potato products
Other processed or preserved vegetables
Fruit juices
Vegetable juices

Food & Drink Producer – Finance Requirements

Your accounts are historically profitable
You and your business are creditworthy
You have identified and confirmed buyers for your product

How the transaction works

Trade Finance Global offers trade finance to firms without large capital requirements. Instead, products such as accounts receivable finance secure lending against orders or invoices confirmed in firms’ accounts. These products can be tailored to the needs of food & drink importers and exporters to provide credit facilities to firms looking to pay suppliers promptly and repay loans on extended payment terms. This service can hugely help food & drink producers managing a large volume of transactions across borders, as otherwise the delays involved in transportation and payment can cause severe cashflow issues even for profitable firms with confirmed buyers.

What is the SIC Code for Trade in Food & Drink?

The sheer volume of products within the Food & Drink industry mean a plethora of SIC codes exist covering their production and processing. These include:

10110	Processing and preserving of meat
10120	Processing and preserving of poultry meat
10130	Production of meat and poultry meat products
10200	Processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs
10310	Processing and preserving of potatoes
10320	Manufacture of fruit and vegetable juice
10390	Other processing and preserving of fruit and vegetables

Industries which wholesale food products are covered by separate SIC codes. Separate trade finance pages exist for food producing industries, such as Farming & Livestock, Fruit, and Marine & Fishery Finance.

Full tariff schedules for food products including preserved meats, processed fish, fruit juices and preserved fruit and vegetables can all be found on gov.uk.

Case Study

Producer, Food & Drink Trade

A small Scottish food production business determined to expand its sales in China worked with TFG and its buyers to ensure it was paid promptly before exporting its products.

Speak to our trade finance team

Benefits

Fast assessment of proposals and provision of credit facilities
Manage cashflow without risking business capital
Support for international transactions with foreign buyers and sellers

What is Stock Finance?

About the Author

Deepesh Patel is Editorial Director at Trade Finance Global (TFG). In this role, Deepesh leads efforts in developing TFG’s brand, relationships and strategic direction in key markets, including the UK, US, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Deepesh regularly chairs and speaks at international industry events with the WTO, BCR, Excred, TXF, The Economist and Reuters, as well as industry associations including ICC, FCI, ITFA, ICISA and BAFT.

Deepesh is the host of the ‘Trade Finance Talks’ podcast and ‘Trade Finance Talks TV’. He is co-author of ‘Blockchain for Trade: A Reality Check’ with the ICC and the WTO, alongside other industry research.

In addition to his work at TFG, Deepesh is a Strategic Advisor for WOA, and works closely with ITFA. He also sits on the Fintech Working Group of the Standardised Trust.

Prior to TFG, Deepesh worked at Travelex where he was responsible for the cards business and the Travelex Money app in Europe, NAM, UK and Brazil. Deepesh is Chair of Governors and co-opted LA Governor of the Wyvern Federation, which has responsibility for 5 primary schools in South London.

Food & Drink (SIC 10110)

Trade and Stock Finance For Food & Drinks