Supermarkets across the United Kingdom have seen their shelves stripped of roast chicken through supply shortages.
The poultry industry say that the current state of affairs is at 'breaking point' with producers struggling to survive with soaring energy prices and packaging costs which have caused the current system to be dubbed 'unsustainable'.
The British Poultry Council has warned that supermarkets must increase the prices they are paying for meat, while fruit and vegetable stocks also suffer through climate problems in Spain and the Mediterranean affecting UK imports.
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The Mirror reports across Great Britain, a prolonged cold winter has spelled a late start to the growing season for native arable farmers, meaning double trouble for fruit and veg buyers. The perfect storm of bad weather and soaring energy costs mean in the coming months customers could see less available for the weekly shop.
Poultry Council chief executive Richard Griffiths, told the Mail Online: “The drive to keep food affordable under exceptional market conditions where the cost of production is not being returned through the marketplace is rendering poultry meat businesses unviable.”
Mr Griffiths said issues like avian flu, as well as ongoing wrangles around Brexit, meant his members were struggling to get prices for their products that reflected the challenges they faced. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said the growing season for British farmers had started later because of a prolonged cold winter.
The organisation also claimed recent food shortages reflected the UK’s reliance on imported fruit and veg. Christine McDowell, from the NFU, said a rise in production costs has added to the problem.
She said: “British growers continue to face significant cost increases, such as energy and labour, and many simply can't afford to keep producing food with the current returns.”
The Spanish government has requested emergency funds from the European Union to support farmers and ranchers amid extreme drought conditions in the country's agricultural heartlands.
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