Concern over poultry production cost hike
Bosses of BPC members, including 2 Sisters Food Group, Bernard Matthews, Faccenda and Moy Park, said the increase in grain prices had been the key driver for this change. They confirmed that this was their greatest concern.
In addition, six out of 10 predicted there would be a slight increase in production costs in the next six months, while an additional two in 10 believed the increase would be significant. Only two in 10 thought prices would remain the same.
Feed prices
Nine out of 10 said feed prices were most responsible for the increase in production costs.
However, there was positive news too, with four in 10 producers reporting rising production levels in the past six months, as retailers switched to UK-sourced poultry after the horsemeat scandal. Half reported no change and only one in 10 claimed they had scaled back production.
And two thirds of survey respondents said they felt more confident about the future of the industry than they did six months ago.
Increasing employment levels
On top of that, seven in 10 BPC members responding to the survey reported increasing their employment levels in the past six months. And of the half of respondents with apprenticeship schemes, seven in 10 said they were on track to recruit their target numbers of apprentices.
“Against a challenging economic backdrop, it is encouraging that the British poultry industry is growing in confidence,” said BPC ceo Andrew Large. “Feed costs continue to affect profitability, but strong consumer demand offers hope for the future.
“The horsemeat scandal has led to several leading retailers prioritising British produce and accelerated the trend of increasing numbers of consumers buying poultry as a high quality, yet cost effective way of feeding the family.”
