UK domestic demand for farming and livestock products tends to rest on the needs of a small group of large food producers, which in turn supply the supermarket-dominated retail market. Although some businesses are export focused, many UK livestock businesses are extremely sensitive to price fluctuations in dairy, beef, and other meat sectors, looking to capitalise on advantageous exchange rates to increase exports where practical and profitable. However, on a global scale, demand for meat and meat products has been underpinned by rising demand for poultry meat, which has consistently risen faster than the rate of global population growth in the last fifty years. Moreover, meat and dairy consumption is rising around the world, including in the advanced economies where much of it is produced.

Meeting the capital requirements of retail banks in order to obtain finance to invest in future growth can be hard for farming and livestock producers. Many tend to be highly capitalised due to their asset-dense business, which can prevent them from securing finance conventionally despite their dependable revenue streams from relationships with key buyers, and raising finance through equity sales is rarely an option for family-owned farms. Trade financiers can support these businesses by connecting them with a wide network of alternative sources of lending. These private sources can offer bespoke lending terms which better suit producers’ financial situation. Specifically, by offering drastically reduced capital requirements on their lending and more flexible repayment terms to grant producers the ability and time to transport and sell their receivables.