More food and drink was sold to countries outside the European Union than within the bloc at the start of 2021 – though exports to the EU nearly halved, new data has shown. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) also said total food and drink exports to non-EU countries only rose by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year, even as it made up 55 per cent of all the sector’s exports against 40 per cent last year. EU nations bought £3.7billion in British food and drink compared to £5.1billion the year earlier and £2billion less than in 2019 before the UK had left the EU.