ICSM Food and Drink Industry Insolvency News: chocolate manufacturers go bust; Millies Cookies closes; Whippy Ices gone and Brewdog sales plunge - but inflation falls slightly

By Harry Mottram: With the cost-of-living crisis continuing with the new Burnham labour Government cutting VAT on fuel bills to help households there’s also more encouraging news with inflation falling to 2.5% as food costs drop and prices at the pump are down slightly. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was 2.6% in June, down from 2.8% the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The driver for everything is the price of oil which during the early days of the Iran-USA-Israel war was over $100 a barrel – however it has fallen back under $100 but with continued flare ups the price remains volatile. Year on year motor fuel prices are up 21% which shows how much things have changed since America’s ill-judged war with the Iranian state – and the massive drop in tankers able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Food and drink makers and sellers continue to have a hard time as luxury brands tend to be trimmed from hard-pressed household budgets. One such casualty is chocolate manufacturer Marasu's Petit Fours who entered administration earlier this year. The London based firm supplied Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges and Harrods with high end chocolate luxuries turning over some 300 tonnes of the delicious brown goodies a year. They joined London’s Prestat who entered a pre-pack sale, and Nottinghamshire’s The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Co this year as insolvency beckoned. Luxury cookies have also seen a fall in sale with consumers looking for cheaper bites – that has seen the end of Millies Cookies based  in Crawley who have shut up their shop and also in trouble is Whippy Ice’s Limited who have had a creditors meeting to see if anything can be scooped up from their demise in Peterborough.

The case of Brewdog is different in that it has been a self-inflicted disaster. The so-called rebel brewery and pub chain simply got too big too quick taking on £500m in debt - that it could not service. Coupled with bad publicity over the antics of its owners in the way staff were treated it collapsed and was off loaded onto US drinks outfit Tilray in a deal worth more than £32m as hundreds of staff lost their jobs.

Ian Carrotte of ICSM said food and drink is a notoriously volatile sector with fashions coming and going. He recalled how Lymeswold cheese became a big seller only to disappear in the early 90s as the public’s taste for dairy products changed. Gin bars, wine bars and even Irish bars he said seem to hit the spot for some drinkers - but agains tastes change as those with long memories will recall Watney's Red Barrel, Double Diamond and Pony (the little drink with the big kick) which all came and went. Meanwhile many traditional pubs struggle as punters stay at home due to the cost of lubricating their throats. The average cost of a pint of beer is over £5 while an average glass of wine in a pub is closer to £8 - making it hard to have a night out at the local for a tenner.

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