2 Sisters Food Group’s CEO Ronald Kers has warned of “a major threat” to UK food security as a result of the Ukraine conflict, leading to hyper-inflation not seen for 50 years.
Commenting on the conflict, Kers said: “The events in Ukraine are an unimaginable tragedy and our hearts go out to those affected and to our Ukrainian colleagues and supply chain partners and their friends and relatives back home. It is an incredibly worrying time and we will do all we can to support them.”
Kers said that there was “no doubt” that the outcome of the conflict is that consumers will be impacted as a result. He added: “War disrupts the free flow of trade and the impacts for us are severe. For example, the input costs of producing chicken – with feed being the biggest component – have rocketed.”
The 2 Sister boss claimed that input costs in chicken production had risen by 50% in past 12 months. He also forecasted that UK food inflation could increase to 15% by mid-year if the conflict is not resolved quickly.
He said: “Our business is heavily dependent on a stable agricultural sector, but we cannot isolate ourselves from events abroad, even if Ukraine seems like a far away place. Commodities like animal feed and CO2 are vital for us."
Kers said that the company’s concern was that a lot of people haven’t realised “the food production clock is ticking.” The UK could experience a “major drop” in supply of products such as wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed and sunflower oil.
To “bring some order to the chaos”, Kers is advocating for cross-territorial food strategies to be put in place by countries globally. He said: “The reality is companies like 2 Sisters trade globally, and the smooth flow of trade links between states are vital. Without measures to isolate states from food security risks, ultimately there will be less food and higher prices to pay, with the poorest in society hit hardest.”
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.
