The grocery sector has had an array of challenges to contend with throughout the year to date, from diseases affecting crops and driving up prices, to disruptive weather conditions that have impacted the livestock, arable and horticultural sectors and disrupted businesses throughout the country.

We take a look at what the grocery sector’s biggest supply chain challenges are, and the impact they will have on the food and drink industry.

A citrus greening disease, which affects the colour and acidity of fruits, has spread across and destroyed orange crops in Florida and Brazil, both of which are major orange producers.

Juice giants including Innocent, Tropicana and its owner Naked Juice have all been affected by the disease, which has impacted not only their profits but resulted in price hikes for consumers as orange prices more than doubled to heights of £4,800 per tonne.

In June, Innocent chief executive Nick Canney told The Telegraph that the disease, alongside added pressures such as drought and extreme weather, had caused a crisis in global orange juice production which would “move prices forward” for smoothies, impacting millions of UK consumers.

He explained that for Innocent, “orange within the category [of food and drink] we’re in is 40% of the business. You can’t not have orange juice”.

“Prices will feed through. What will happen is you’ll obviously, whether it’s through promotions, or pack sizes or pricing, ultimately there will need to be changes ahead. Anyone who’s supplying or manufacturing orange juice will be under the same pressures as us,” Canney added.

Naked Juice also warned that the spread of citrus greening disease had led to soaring prices and a strain on its profits which are now expected to hit £241m this year, down from the previously forecast £279.8m.

Continued outbreaks of bird flu have put pressure on the global egg sector, as prices have risen as a result of shortages.

Egg prices are now 16% higher than in 2019 as a result of the spread of avian flu across Europe and North America, with almost 33 million commercial laying hens culled in the US alone this year.

Last year, the owner of Burford Brown eggs Clarence Court warned that suppliers were at risk following the outbreaks. It said UK farmers were struggling with the uncertainty surrounding the flu, resulting in some downsizing their flocks and even leaving the industry.

In November 2022, the British Free Range Egg Producers Association found that around 165 farmers had to temporarily or permanently cease production.

In April, the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) warned that wet and challenging weather conditions across the UK could cut grain harvests by a fifth.

Analysis by the non-profit found that the production of wheat, barley, oats and rapeseed could decline by four million tonnes this year compared with 2023 – a reduction of 17.5%, and 21.2% compared to the 2015 to 2023 average.

At the time, ECIU lead analyst Tom Lancaster told The Grocer: “There’s a real risk that the price of bread, beer and biscuits could increase as the poor harvest may lead to higher costs.”

In the same month, some UK grocery retailers shrunk potato pack sizes from 2.5kg to 2kg without a decrease in price, equating to around a 25% price increase per kilo to shoppers.

It came as many farmers had been unable to plant crops, including potatoes, during the spring season due to waterlogged fields, with many crops that have been planted being of poor quality.

In January, it was revealed that confectionery products and cookies were at risk of imminent price hikes as the global cost of sugar soared.

Extreme weather, such as dry spells in India and drought in Thailand, threatened crops and delivered low production rates from these regions, which are big exporters of sugar.

At the time, grocery industry experts also warned that failures to address the ongoing climate crisis mean more extreme weather and risk to sugar crops are forecast for the foreseeable future.

International Food Policy Research Institute senior fellow Joseph Glauber told The Guardian: “There’s no question sugar prices are very, very high and will remain high until we see El Niño abate.

“There is a concern about the impact of climate change in the long run with the movement of cropping areas and higher volatility in the price of things like rice and sugar.”

At the time, Cadbury confirmed it would increase prices across its range due to a steep rise in production costs.

A spokesperson told Grocery Gazette: “As a food producer, we are continuing to experience significantly higher input costs across our supply chain, with ingredients such as cocoa and sugar, which are widely used in our products, costing far more than they have done previously.

“Meanwhile, other costs like energy, packaging, and transport also remain high. This means that our products continue to be much more expensive to make and while we have absorbed these costs where possible, we still face considerable challenges.”