Bad season of bird flu in UK hits supply of Christmas turkeys | Food & drink industry

UK poultry producers are dealing with a “bad season” of bird flu; cases are much worse than this point last year; Christmas birds, including turkey, chicken and duck, are in short supply.

Two industry insiders said they expected supplies of all poultry to be tight ahead of the festive season, especially for organic and free-range birds seen as most vulnerable to infection.

It is also possible that heavier birds will be available less often as some producers start processing earlier to avoid the risk of infection.

Around 5% of the UK’s Christmas poultry flock, including turkeys, ducks and chickens, is thought to represent around 300,000 birds so far this season.

The current bird flu outbreak has seen a higher number of cases in the UK than last winter, but is not yet as severe as 2022/23, the biggest outbreak the country has ever experienced.

Despite this, major retailers are expected to have sufficient stock due to their strong agreements with suppliers and their willingness to pay more for pre-orders, even if it means lowering their profit margins.

Small retailers are likely to have difficulty sourcing birds, or they may be forced to raise prices for shoppers to cover increased costs to secure stock.

“Some producers have been very badly affected,” said Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council. “We are looking at rising case numbers and this is a bad season, much worse than last year.”

Gressingham, which supplies ducks to retailers including Waitrose, was among companies experiencing a bird flu outbreak but did not confirm how many birds were lost.

West Wales-based free-range and organic poultry producer Capestone Organic Poultry also experienced an outbreak at one of its farms, leading to the culling of 48,000 turkeys in the area.

“We only have free-range and organic produce, nothing is housed, so we are particularly vulnerable,” said Rob Cumine, managing director of Capestone, which supplies birds to many of the UK’s major supermarkets.

He said the outbreak and subsequent cull had had “quite an emotional impact”, explaining: “You care so much about the welfare of the birds – you all feel that in terms of waste.

“You question whether you can do more and there are great emotions for the staff and the team involved.”

Bird keepers in England were ordered to protect the birds earlier this month. flocks of more than 50 birds in an enclosed space From November 6th.

The decision expanded the scope of previous measures covering parts of the north, mid and east of England, at a time when bird flu outbreaks were increasing in both captive and wild birds. Order a housing Comes into force in Wales On November 13.

There is an avian flu containment zone throughout Great Britain, which requires strict biosecurity measures to limit the spread of the disease.

However, new cases of the disease are appearing. gets confirmed almost every day Some nationwide, including large-scale commercial poultry units. Nearly 50 cases have been announced since the start of the season at the beginning of October, the majority in England.

“Producers are doing everything they can to manage the birds and manage the situation,” Griffiths said.

“The next few weeks will be crucial in terms of slaughtering the birds for Christmas. Once we get to this point we can all breathe easy for another year.”

The Animal and Plant Health Agency is responsible for responding to disease outbreaks on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Head of outbreak deployment, Sascha van Helvoort, said: “We have successfully carried out disease outbreak response almost continuously in recent years, including 2023, the largest bird flu outbreak this country has ever experienced.”