Over half of Irish food and drink SMEs anticipate sales drop in 2020

New research from Love Irish Food found that a third of its SME member brands expect sales to fall steeply (by more than 15%) in 2020, while 54% believe their sales value will be down overall.

According to research fro Love Food, 51% of Irish Food and Drink SMEs say they are currently experiencing greater short-term cash requirements than in 2019. 

More than half of Irish food and drink small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are anticipating a decline in sales revenues this year due to ongoing impact of Covid-19.

A Love Irish Food survey has found that a third of its SME member brands expect sales to fall steeply (by more than 15%) in 2020, while 54% believe their sales value will be down overall.

Nearly half (44%) of the association’s SME members said the sales decline will result in their businesses employing less staff. Just 10% of businesses expect to increase their employee numbers post-Covid-19.

Over half (51%) of Love Irish Food’s SME members say they are currently experiencing greater short-term cash requirements than in 2019. 

Despite the challenges hindering the growth prospects of many food and drink SMEs, 62% of Love Irish Food's members believe that 2021 will be a better year for businesses than 2020. 

A significant percentage (46%) of respondents also said they have experienced enhanced retailer support throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kieran Rumley, Executive Director, Love Irish Food said: “The global health pandemic brought about by the spread of Covid-19 has been an unprecedented challenge for our industry and the scale of the issues we face continue to evolve at a significant pace. 

"As a material contributor to our local and national economies, the Irish food industry faces significant uncertainty, not just as we emerge from the pandemic, but also in the face of Brexit. 

"Irish branded food suppliers have worked hard to maintain continuity of supply to the retail trade and will continue to do so as it faces into the prospect of a hard and complex Brexit. Maintaining food brands on shelf during this period will be a key challenge to the industry."

Mr Rumley said recent months has seen shoppers increasingly supporting Irish food brands.

"Brexit will bring further complexity to an industry already overburdened by the Covid-19 fallout," he said.

"Love Irish Food calls on Irish shoppers to continue to increase their support for locally produced food brands to ensure a strong, vibrant and independent food supply to Irish supermarket shelves at a vital point in our economic history.”