UK expats who have moved to Australia for work purposes but miss the taste of home may find that this is no longer an issue in the near future, as significantly more British food and drink could soon be on offer in the supermarkets down under.
Since the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) last year, the country has been working to establish new trade links across the globe and there is talk of targeting the Australian expat market with a food and drink deal worth up to $500 million.
This would form part of Britain's wider export action plan as it seeks international trade deals following its exit from the EU, with the UK government hoping to have opened up new lines of trade with both Australia and New Zealand by 2020. Grocery items are just a small part of this plan, as Britain wants to find new trade locations for everything else that the country manufactures to ensure a strong position for the nation post-Brexit.
No matter how many beach barbecues expats have, for many, nothing beats the taste of Cadbury's chocolate, black pudding and Somerset cider, with these tastes evoking memories of life back in the UK and bringing some home comfort to their day.
Tanya Barden, chief executive officer of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, explained: "There has been recent interest from several international supermarket retailers considering entering the Australian food and grocery market due to the relatively high Australian supermarket profit margins by global standards."
This means that supermarkets such as Tesco and Waitrose could potentially enter the Australian market, creating extra competition for retailers down under, while catering to the nation's large expat customer base.
Some $560 million worth of British food items are already exported to Australia each year, with the most popular items including Scotch whisky, gin and cereal, but the number of products familiar to UK expats could potentially be set to double on supermarket shelves post-Brexit.
