Scarcity of workers poses threat to food export boon

The Thai food industry is enjoying higher overseas purchase orders, attributed to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, but the windfall may be short-lived as a severe labour shortage in the food sector remains unsolved.

The prospect of global food insecurity, propelled by the prolonged Russia-Ukraine dispute, has caused many countries to stock food by buying it from Asia, said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

“Thai food factories have prepared raw materials for processing to meet demand that is growing out of a shortage of raw materials caused by the war,” he said.

The FTI is not worried the shortage will affect Thailand because the country has abundant farm produce and is a major food exporter.

A serious problem in the food industry and its supply chains is labour scarcity which occurred when Thailand was first hit by…