Business owners have warned that the fine food sector continues to be heavily targeted by criminals despite a reduction in shoplifting across the UK.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a 4% drop in shoplifting in the year to March 2026, the first annual reduction since lockdown-dominated 2020/21.
However, there were still more than half a million reported incidents of the crime in the most recent period – an unwanted milestone reached for only the second time on record.
More than three in four respondents to a separate poll by the British Independent Retailers’ Association (Bira) said they had experienced theft in the last 12 months, with nine in 10 saying it had worsened since the previous year.
Tom Newey, chief executive at Cobbs Farm, said shoplifting was “as bad as it has ever been”.
“Because the supermarkets and big convenience stores have got better at managing it, does that make us a softer target?” he asked.
Newey said Cobbs was dealing with a wave of opportunists rather than career criminals.
“It is often the most unlikely people,” he said. “We’ve caught the same chap on a Zimmer Frame in Winchester twice, and he came in for the third week of stealing. It’s extraordinary.
“We found six empty mini-Prosecco bottles in the disabled-loo nappy bin the other day.”
Claire Cook, general manager at Suffolk Food Hall, also feels that independents are being targeted.
“We found one offender on social media selling what she’d stolen from us. We’re talking thousands of pounds’ worth,” she said.
“People are coming in knowing what they are looking to steal. Jellycats are a big one, along with alcohol and butchery.”
Will Simkin, director at Essington Farm Shop, said shoplifting was “rife”.
“You’re seeing organised gangs going round targeting independent retailers because they see them as an easy target,” he warned.
“People are coming in and just loading up armfuls and walking out,” Simkin said. “They are geared up for it. They’ve got pockets in their coats, and they’re just picking things up.”
Berkshire-based Cheese Etc. suffered an extreme case of shoplifting this summer.
Owner Jen Grimstone-Jones said masked criminals cut a hole into a storage area at the back of the shop overnight and stole £600 of alcohol.
“They knew what they were doing, we have CCTV but they knew where the cameras were,” she added.
“We reported it to the police and they came a week after the incident to dust for prints, by which time our builder had secured the hole, our cleaners had been, and all our team had been in and out of the area.
“We were then informed the case had been closed as there was no chance that anyone would get caught.”
This article first appeared in the September issue of Fine Food Digest.
