Irish food firms report Brexit disruption as price rises loom

Irish businesses are seeing their input costs rise, with signs price increases will be passed onto customers emerging.

Nearly three-quarters of small- to medium-size food and agribusiness said their costs had increased from last year, according to a sentiment survey conducted for IFAC, almost double the 36% that reported it a year earlier.

Transport issues, energy, raw materials and packaging costs were all cited as factors which may contribute to food price inflation in the coming months, while more than half of respondents reported transport disruption as a result of Brexit.

Overall, 72% of Irish food businesses said they had been negatively impacted by Brexit with almost two-thirds of participants surveyed by IFAC in June and July saying it had hurt business.

Meanwhile, a separate cross-sector survey of SME confidence for Linked Finance also published Wednesday showed “a clear move towards higher pricing.” Almost a quarter of respondents and 57% of those in the wholesale and retail sector said they expect to charge higher prices in future, according to research conducted July 21 to Aug. 11.

“The inflationary trend is another sign of the economy heating up, although now more than ever businesses need to be careful to maintain competitiveness, particularly where reliant on export markets,” Linked Finance CEO Niall O’Grady said in a statement.