Expert Insight
NEWS from
Kate Nicholls UKHospitality Chief Executive
April showers? If only. Rather, the hospitality sector faces a veritable downpour come April – a cloudburst followed by a deluge of VAT increases, business rates rises, rent hikes and higher labour costs.
But if that torrent of financial worries wasn’t enough, it’ll be swollen by new regulations that are bound to further hamper our post-pandemic recovery.
April is when the Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021 come into force, requiring businesses with more than 250 employees to display calories for food and drinks under 1.2% abv.
The timing really couldn’t be any worse. This is a hugely challenging moment for the hospitality industry, with businesses already battling on several fronts as they strive to recoup Covid-19 losses: staff shortages, operating cost pressures, crippling debt levels, and depleted cash reserves. They need mandatory calorie labelling like a hole in the head.
So while we’re working to ensure the sector is prepared and able to comply with the new regulations UKHospitality is also urging a delay in the implementation of the regulations, along with a full six months of non-enforcement, whether or not they’re introduced in April. There also needs to be candid dialogue between hospitality businesses and their local authorities, with councils acknowledging the difficulties operators will surely face when trying to comply with the new rules, and a consistent approach to enforcement across the country.
But whenever calorie labelling comes into effect, the industry must be ready for it, so we’ve produced guidance on the new
Calorie Labelling legislation, which is intended to help affected businesses and to ensure consistent enforcement. That’s why we’ve made it available to anyone in the sector, not just to UKHospitality members.
Compiled with the UKHospitality Nutrition Group, the guidance includes a summary of the legislation and answers to frequently asked questions. And given the complexity of handling the new measures – at a time when operators are already stretched to breaking point – the advice will be updated on a rolling basis as additional queries and details emerge.
In a nutshell, the new legislation applies to any ‘large business’ – those with more than 250 employees – where food or drink is prepared ‘…for immediate consumption by the person who buys it’.
So what has to be calorie labelled? All items prepared and sold for immediate consumption by the final consumer and which are not subject to existing pre- packaged labelling requirements. That means unpackaged items (for example restaurant meals), prepacked for direct sale (a café sandwich made and packaged on-site), or items packaged at the consumers’ request (think sausage roll from a bakery hot food tray). Sides and toppings on menus will also require calorie labels.
The ‘large businesses’ required to do all this include not just restaurants, cafés, takeaways, bakeries and caterers, but also supermarkets, entertainment venues (for example cinemas), hotels, and workplaces where large catering companies provide food and drink.
Online sales are also covered, including those by third party takeaway platforms, which, irrespective of size, will be required to display calorie information on food and drink items sold by businesses within the scope of the policy.
There are some exemptions: education institutions for pupils aged under-18, in-house workplace canteens where food and drink are provided solely for employees, health and social care settings where food is provided solely for patients or residents, drinks that are more than 1.2% alcohol by volume (ABV), and loose fruit and vegetables.
It’s a lot to digest, and some under-pressure businesses are bound to be caught out by the new rules because they’ve simply too much on their plates. Delay calorie labelling – or at the very least implement a six-month non-enforcement period – and the Government would give operators vital time in which to get their businesses back on their feet. Only when they’ve done that should they have to consider these new rules.
6
February 2022
www.venue-insight.com
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