The UK food industry “needs to do more” to regain ground in export markets amid signs that the country is losing sales to competitors.

The Food and Drink Federation, the industry association for the UK’s food and soft drink sectors, has claimed manufacturers are facing a battle to win share of overseas markets.

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UK food and soft drink exports increased 13% in the first of 2011 but there are indications that the country’s manufacturers are being usurped by foreign competitors in some markets, according to Terry Jones, the FDF’s director of communications.

“There is evidence that we are perhaps losing a bit of market share. On the whole, good, but clearly we need to do more,” he said.

Jones was speaking at the launch of an FDF report that outlined the UK industry’s target to grow by 20% by 2020.

The UK government has pledged to back the country’s manufacturers in hitting that target, with food and farming minister Caroline Spelman emphasising the coalition’s support for the sector in export markets.

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Jones said the UK’s rivals were being backed by government and said there was a “real, shared desire” by the coalition and industry to do the same.

Asked what the target markets for UK food manufacturers should be, he pointed to the Middle East and the Americas as “the faster growing markets”.

“Dorset Cereals is a great example of a business that’s really broken into the Middle East, the UAE, quite wealthy countries that have developed a real taste of our products,” Jones said. “We can’t ignore the European markets, still phenomenally important for us but then there are the really fast-growing developing markets. The trick will be for us to make sure the offer is right for the different countries. The backbone of export growth will come from SMEs.”

Since promotional body Food From Britain was wound up in 2009 following the end of government funding, there have been concerns that UK food manufacturers have not had adequate support to expand overseas in comparision to competitors in other countries.

When asked if the current strategy compared favourably with how UK exporters were promoted under Food From Britain, Jones said: “I think it’s different. The world has moved on. We have to work with what we’ve got. There’s a real, shared desire for us to really grow exports.”