The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has confirmed it plans to work with its members and the Ministry of Justice to explore ways to tackle the industry's labour shortage.
AIMS spokesperson Tony Goodger told Meat Management that he had spoken to a representative from the Ministry of Justice about the potential to help combat the meat industry's ongoing labour shortfall.
“It was a massively productive call," Goodger said. "We’re very keen to work with the Prison Service to help our members fill their vacancies with offenders and prison leavers.
"We’ve also been speaking to the Career Transition Partnership, which finds jobs for ex-service personnel and I’m told that 14,000 people leave the armed services every year. If they all came into our industry, we would be well on our way to solving the labour problem.”
The shortage of meat processing workers and HGV drivers has seen consequences for consumers, most recently the temporary closure of around 50 Nando's restaurants when the chain had difficulties sourcing peri-peri chicken.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
