The CEO of the UK’s third-largest food company sees tariffs as secondary to the logistical and border challenges if the UK leaves the EU.

Patrick Coveney, the chief executive of Greencore, speaking at a British-Irish Chamber of Commerce event this week said while tariffs are a concern for his business, he is more concerned with getting fresh food in.

Greencore is the largest sandwich maker in the UK, where 50% of the population eat a Greencore product every week, or 90% every month according to the chief executive.

He added that Greencore buys around 20% of its €750m worth of raw materials and packaging from the EU (outside the UK) every year.

Food deficit

He also said retail buyers are aligned between Ireland and the UK and this is how the supply chain has evolved. Greencore carry perishable stocks in hours rather than in days, he added. He says the risk is that in the UK the product may be less fresh and more expensive.

He concluded that he believes the UK will still remain a food deficit country with 60 million consumers.

He predicts it will be difficult to see a scenario where the UK doesn’t leave the EU but that the likelihood of a catastrophic Brexit is low. Asked if food in the UK will go up, he says it already has and this is partly due to exchange rates.