No turkey shortage but less choice, says BPC
The British Poultry Council (BPC) has announced there will be “a bird for everyone who wants one” this Christmas, however, it added that the public will have less choice.
The announcement comes as the deadline to recruit thousands of temporary workers from the EU approaches.
In September, the government relaxed immigration rules to allow up to 5,500 poultry workers to work in the UK until 31st December. The change in rules followed months of campaigning from the industry for temporary workers to ensure enough birds are processed in the run up to the Christmas period.
According to BPC, between 2,500 and 3,000 applications for the available poultry visas have been made. Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the BPC, said that the number of applications would “get [the industry] over the line.”
Griffiths said: “We’ve been able to streamline products and reduce the variety, so that helps with the overall volume. There will be a focus on whole birds and very simple crowns and roasts.”
He added that both a cut in the number of birds being reared and producers having access to EU labour means that the industry can now cope.
Griffiths continued: “The workers coming into the UK on Christmas poultry visas are boosting our seasonal workforce and mean that producers both large and small now have sufficient numbers of people. It has been an incredibly difficult year for poultry producers but they are determined to provide, as always, the centrepiece of the Christmas dinner table. There are enough turkeys in the country for the festive season and we are grateful to government for helping us get the extra workers we desperately needed to help process them. However, this cannot be a one-off otherwise we will find ourselves in an equally difficult situation this time next year.”
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