A new mentorship programme to help UK farmers and food producers boost their exports has been launched by the Department for International Trade (DIT).
The scheme is part of DIT’s new strategy to boost agriculture exports into new markets, as 97% of the food and drink sector are SMEs but only 1 in 5 of food and drink businesses export. Their latest research estimates that 6.5m jobs were supported by exports in 2016, and they consider that exporting businesses are typically more productive.
The programme, run in partnership with Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), and the National Farmers Union (NFU), will match experienced exporters with businesses who are looking to export for the first time.