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The future of the EU, UK and USA flour milling sectors With Brexit negotiations in full flux, this report focuses on three unique presentations given by Bernard Valluis, President of the European Flour Millers; Alexander Waugh, Director General, nabim, UK and Jeff Zyskowski, Vice president, Supply Chain, Ardent Mills, USA at the IGC Grains Conference held in London on June 6, 2017. Offering exclusive perspectives on the future of US, UK and EU flour milling, the report discusses how ‘free-from’ and personalised diets will continue to drive the market, how introducing tariffs on wheat and flour trade between the EU-27 and the UK would be detrimental both economically and socially, and finally, how the stability of the global flour and wheat market remains to be as important as ever in providing nutrition to a swelling populace.
by Rhiannon White, Managing Editor, Milling and Grain
A view from:
The President of the European Flour Millers
Brexit, consumer trends and authenticity: As Brexit continues to dominate the British and European political stage, Bernard Valluis, President of the European Flour Millers says, “Within our Association, we believe that today’s priority is the continuation of the current trade flows for flour and flour-based products without tariffs on both sides.” The European Flour Millers association is a federation of 29 countries, 24 from the European Union and five associate members including Turkey, the world’s leading flour exporter. 52 | September 2017 - Milling and Grain
“We process 45 million tonnes of grains every year, have direct employment for 45,000 people and we are producing 35 million tonnes of flour and probably 600 different kinds of flour”, he added. The EU is a highly regulated environment for flour millers with a heavy focus on health and food safety. This includes date marking and monitoring of nutrition and health claims, agricultural policy, competition rules, more transparency in the internal market and finally improving sustainability, energy efficiency and waste. Mr Valluis commented, “The EU is also the leader for the wheat production market with between 140 and 150 million tonnes produced in 2017-18, followed by China (128.3 tonnes), India (95.5 tonnes) and then Russia (67 tonnes).”
Brexit
Most striking are the statistics that reflect the staunch and intertwined relationship held between the EU and UK wheat, flour and bakery markets. “In 2015-16, the UK exported 2.2 million tonnes of wheat to the EU-27, mainly to The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, whilst the EU-27 normally exports around 0.6 tonnes to the UK. “The UK exports around 220,000 tonnes of flour per year to the