A different take on EU food policy

EU farm subsidies a controversial. But it’s not just Europe that subsidises its agriculture, as Matthew Partridge found out when he spoke to a UK sugar manufacturer.

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British Sugar sources its raw ingredient, beet sugar, from UK farms
(Image credit: Copyright 2012 Bloomberg Finance LP)

As with most issues, when it comes to Europe, there is more than one side to each argument. A fortnight ago, we spoke to a senior executive at Tate & Lyle Sugars, who discussed with us in detail how the status quo was affecting both his business and the British consumer, and also how he wanted to see radical post-Brexit changes to current food policy. Of course, Tate & Lyle Sugars is not the only sugar company in the UK. To get a more rounded view of the issue, we've spoken to Paul Kenward, the managing director of British Sugar, the other major British firm, which currently supplies around 60% of the UK market.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri