The UK’s ability to keep food moving during a major crisis is being put at risk by inadequate government planning and a failure to involve the logistics industry sufficiently in emergency preparations, Logistics UK has warned.
The warning follows a new National Audit Office (NAO) report which found that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) had not done enough to ensure the food supply chain could withstand a catastrophic disruption.
Food is designated as one of the UK’s 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors and the supply chain covers storage and distribution as well as production, manufacturing, wholesale, retail and catering.
The NAO said the system had proved resilient during recent disruptions, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, largely because businesses had managed their own risks and adapted to changing circumstances.
However, it warned that the risks facing the supply chain were becoming more likely and potentially more severe, including extreme weather, cyber attacks, energy disruption and animal, plant and human disease outbreaks.
The watchdog said Defra had largely relied on the private sector to manage disruption and had not sufficiently tested the sector’s ability to cope with a catastrophic event.
The last national exercise testing preparedness for a severe food supply disruption took place in 2023 and identified limitations in the government’s preparedness.
The NAO said food supply-chain businesses had praised Defra’s engagement during the pandemic but had been involved less frequently since then. Industry had also had limited input into Defra’s emergency “playbook”, creating a risk that plans would not work in practice.
Logistics UK chief executive Ben Fletcher said the report reinforced the need for a more co-ordinated approach.
“The UK’s food supply chain is highly complex and interconnected,” he said. “Food supply chain resilience is directly linked to the overall health and resilience of the logistics industry.”
Fletcher said Logistics UK’s work with Food 7 Cymru and others had demonstrated the importance of involving organisations at regional and national level to test the resilience of the different elements of the supply chain and minimise disruption.
The NAO also found that local resilience forums lacked clarity from Defra over what would be expected of them during a major food-supply disruption.
It said Defra lacked some of the legal powers it might need during a catastrophic event, including the ability to direct businesses to take emergency action to maintain food supplies.
The watchdog has called on Defra to refresh its engagement with food-supply businesses, review its emergency response plans and legal powers, and test its preparations with local government and industry.
It also urged the department to learn from approaches used in other countries and other Critical National Infrastructure sectors.
The report highlighted the scale of the food system, with UK households spending £148bn on food in 2025, excluding eating out. The UK’s food self-sufficiency ratio was around 60%, while domestic production itself relies on imported inputs including fertiliser and animal feed.
The NAO warned that a severe disruption could result in food shortages, higher prices and reduced consumer choice, while increasing operating costs for businesses.
Potential catastrophic scenarios identified by the government include a national power outage, pandemic, nuclear accident or large-scale chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.
The NAO said Defra had strengthened its resilience team and increased its focus on catastrophic events, but its wider work remained at an early stage.
Head of the NAO Gareth Davies said recent disruptions had demonstrated the resilience of the UK food supply chain, but the risks were increasing in both likelihood and severity.
“Defra should learn from approaches taken in other countries, and strengthen preparedness for emergencies by testing plans with local government and industry,” he said.
