NFU Scotland urges Government to add poultry to food chain scrutiny

By Andrew Heskin, Partner and ARA specialist

NFU Scotland has issued a stark warning to the Government, urging them to extend their scrutiny of food supply chains to encompass poultry meat to avoid a surge of empty shelves.

The union pinpointed “retailer resistance” to offering fair prices to farmers for chicken as a key contributor to the decline in UK production. This decline, triggered by the lack of profitability in poultry meat production, has led to a significant reduction in the number of birds being reared.

NFU Scotland advocates for a farmgate price increase of roughly 20p per kilogram, cautioning that without such a measure, empty shelves could become a widespread issue.

This call follows the UK Government’s recent launch of an investigation into the egg supply chain, where an inability of retailers to pay a fair price resulted in decreased production and emptied shelves.

According to NFU Scotland, an urgent Government investigation into the poultry meat supply chain is now essential as “a similar picture is rapidly emerging.”

The union expressed concerns that if retailers fail to raise prices, it will further destabilise the country’s already fragile food security and increase the UK’s reliance on imported chicken.

So far, the UK Government has yet to provide the maximum level of relief on soaring energy costs to chicken producers, despite repeated requests. Although chicken feed prices have receded from last year’s extreme highs, utilities and operational costs continue to increase.

NFU Scotland asserted that retailers have kept poultry rearers and processors operating on extremely narrow margins, with conditions continuing to deteriorate.

Robert Thompson, chair of the union’s Poultry Working Group, said: “Retailers must assume responsibility and ensure a fair share of profitability is allocated across the supply chain. They neglected to heed our warning about egg shortages; now they have a chance to prevent a similar fate for chicken by offering fair prices to farmers.”

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