Britain’s poultry meat sector has warned of the ‘devastating’ impact on the cost of food if the UK loses essential workers in a no-deal Brexit.
British Poultry Council (BPC) members are reporting a sharp decline in the availability of crucial workers even ahead of Brexit.
BPC chief executive, Richard Griffiths, said: “The British poultry meat sector is incredibly dependent on non-UK labour. Nearly 60% of our workforce are EU nationals.
“Access to skilled workers is imperative for our sector to carry on feeding the nation with safe, wholesome and affordable food.”
BPC believes the barriers to EU nationals working in the UK would be extremely damaging to the industry.
Griffiths adds: “In the case of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, its producers’ nightmare scenario is a massive loss of workforce. This will have a knock-on effect on the cost of production which will affect the price of food. The latest economic modelling predicts prices rising by around 25% in the event of a no-deal.
“The Government must ensure that British food, and the quality it represents, stays affordable and available for all. If we cannot support our own production, then there will emerge a two-tier food system with the average citizen forced to rely on lower standard imports.”
The British poultry meat industry is said to have grown beyond the labour availability in the areas it operates – which is why nearly 60% of its workforce are EU nationals.
The sector sustains a total of 87,000 jobs up and down the country – of which 37,300 are employed directly in the poultry meat sector.
Griffiths concluded: “British poultry meat producers are committed to carrying on delivering a sustainable, secure and trusted supply of food, produced to world-class standards.
“We want to work together with Government to develop a robust transition plan to ensure access to the workers we need and to avoid any disruption in the smooth movement of perishable products across the EU.”
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.
