Speciality Food Magazine -November/December 2025

6 @specialityfood More than half of Britons support worker-owned retail model In research carried out with YouGov, charity Foodrise has found that the majority of UK consumers would like to see more cooperative or employee-owned retailers rather than conventional supermarkets. Supermarkets account for over 90% of British grocery sales, but the UK’s reliance on themwill lead to the government failing to achieve its climate, cost-of-living and public health goals, according to the charity. Fifty-four per cent of respondents stated that supermarkets should be run by cooperatives rather than private companies (16%) or the state (3%), and SMEs and community and cooperative-own businesses have been shown to create healthier and fairer food environments – but despite the potential for independent food retail to deliver systemic change, the sector remains under- supported by national and local policy, says Foodrise. The charity is calling for investment in alternative food networks, including the establishment of regional food hubs to supply shops, fruit and vegetable prescriptions, and business rate relief for sustainable independent food businesses. Carina Millstone, executive director at Foodrise, said, “Our food and farming is controlled by 10 profit-hungry supermarkets, with devastating consequence for public health, British farmers and for our planet. But our new data shows widespread public support for a different way forward courtesy of worker-owned food shops, which could help improve the nation’s health, while protecting the environment andmaking sure farmers get a better deal. Julia Kirby-Smith, executive director at Better Food Traders, said, "The intersecting nature of food is both a challenge and a huge opportunity for the government. Rebuilding an independent food retail sector can help tackle multiple issues, including boosting our high streets and local jobs, building pride in our local communities, fair pay for farmers, access to healthier food, and a more sustainable food system. “Collaboration between different parts of the food system offers a powerful way to achieve change across social, health and environmental issues. Too often, government support focuses on just the production side or just the public health side. We need to put a new emphasis on supporting independent food retail, building stronger local supply chains and unlocking better access to healthy, locally-grown food for all." At-home hosting seeing YOY growth According to the Faire Forecast, created by Faire in partnership with trend forecaster, selling the food and related homewares for at-home parties is set to be a bigger opportunity than ever for Christmas 2025. The House Party trend was highlighted by the report, and demonstrates that searches for fondues have increased by 277% year on year, martini glasses have seen a 150% search increase, mocktail searches are up 57%, and people are searching for cake trays 94%more than they were last year. The research demonstrates that UK shoppers are planning ahead for an increased number of events at home this festive season. Eloise Connolly fromUberstar, which sells barware, glassware and cocktail making kits on Faire, said, “The surge in home hosting, whether it’s your average BBQ or a sophisticated cocktail party, has really increased over the past few years. Mostly due to financial factors but also consumers are finding more comfort indoors these days. Not to mention there’s the TikTok and Instagram trends for the younger generations, such as cocktail themed nights-in or 'bring your own board’, a trend popularised last year where house guests bring their own snacks, drinks or cocktails according to different themes. People want to show off that they’ve done it all themselves at home, and share this with the online world.” FDF seeks trade boost for UK food businesses New data fromThe Food & Drink Federation (FDF) has shown an uplift in food trade, with non-EU exports outpacing EU export growth. According to FDF’s Trade Snapshot, non-EU insights increased by 10.6% since 2024, while total export volumes were up 7.2% in the first half of 2025 compared with 2024. EU exports saw steady growth of 4.2%. During this period, the UK exported 4.5bn kg and 590m litres of food and drink to over 200 countries. Exports to the US increased by 18.9% despite the additional 10% tariff, and two years after the signing of the trade deal with Australia and New Creative andmedia agency, Trouble Maker, has produced a first-of-its- kind report into what consumers are looking for from challenger brands. The report uses consumer data to provide insights into what different shopper age groups connect with, the role of brand personality, and what they consider to be meaningful category disruption. The research found that 51% of consumers identify as ‘rebel- minded’, and that 67% of these are likely to buy from brands which stand apart from their conventional counterparts – this equates to a £4 billion+ opportunity every week for Zealand, exports to these countries increased by 19.7%. However, with export levels still lagging behind 2023’s figures by 13%, FDF is calling for an industry partnership with government to set ambitious targets to boost food and drink exports. Balwinder Dhoot, director of growth and sustainability at The Food and Drink Federation, said, “It’s positive to see an increase in export volumes compared with last year, and nowwe need to go further. Government and industry can work together to use this as a springboard to turbocharge export growth. challenger brands. The report also discovered that two-thirds of UK consumers believe that brands play their marketing “too safe”, with this figure jumping to 75% amongst 18 to 35-year-olds. Pete Jackson, head of planning at Trouble Maker, said, “As an industry, we love discussing, analysing and anointing challenger brands, but it struck us that no one had ever asked real people what they thinkmakes a great challenger brand. The ambition for the TM100 is to capture what resonates with people and turn those insights into a practical playbook for making trouble in your market.” “We want to work with government to create a clear and ambitious target to boost the UK’s overseas food and drink sales, with a long-termplan to help us hit it. This could include improving access to global markets like Turkey and Mexico, ensuring the smooth implementation of an EU SPS agreement, bringing down US tariffs where they’re higher than those paid by the EU, and supporting businesses that want to trade with newmarkets. This would help give industry a much-needed boost, helping businesses to sell more world-class British food and drink around the globe.” “This first study is just the start of what we hope will be a multi-year journey, exploring trouble-making through the eyes of UK consumers and creating a bellwether for challenger brands in the UK.” Jonathan Fraser, chief creative officer at Trouble Maker, said, “Creativity without courage doesn’t cut it anymore. The TM100 shows that trouble-making isn’t just a nice- to-have attitude, but reinforces what we already know - that it’s a real driver of business value. “Few brands win solely through media scale and even fewer are market leaders. The rest can only win hearts (and wallets) by being brave enough to break category rules, take risks and stand for something. That’s both the challenge and the opportunity for marketers today.” Groundbreaking study into value of challenger brands conducted