By James Mottershead, chair, NFU poultry board
I was extremely disappointed to see Morrisons deciding to stock fresh chicken which was not produced in the UK on shelving edged with the union flag. This is particularly painful for UK producers like me, who have previously celebrated the retailer’s pride in British sourcing, especially on fresh chicken sold within its stores.
Imported product appearing on the same shelving edged with the union flag which could be very misleading to customers wishing to buy British produced Red Tractor Assured chicken. It’s even more frustrating that Morrison’s is not alone, with ASDA also recently starting to offer fresh chicken that was sourced outside of the UK.
When UK retailers state their commitment to British agriculture, it is important that they are clear and unambiguous to both provide clarity to shoppers and give British farmers much needed confidence to enable them to invest in the future. Not only could this latest move be confusing to shoppers, but it also feels like a wallop to British producers who may feel undermined by their actions.
While we have to invest to meet ever higher welfare and sustainability standards, which comes at an increased cost to the farm, we do not know whether these same demands are being made for product coming from other countries.
British poultry farmers produce a product that they can and should be very proud of – it is healthy and affordable to the consumer as well as being incredibly versatile. In fact, the poultry sector alone delivers more than half the total meat produced in the country and it is understandable that UK farmers want to produce more of it to meet growing consumer demand.
However, damaging actions like those seen recently in some retail stores destroy our confidence to invest which, if left unchallenged, will have wider ramifications.
This is why the NFU is actively speaking to all retailers to re-establish and re-confirm their sourcing commitments on poultry meat and eggs. As well as considering the here and now, the national poultry board has also met to discuss the longer-term actions that are needed to ensure growers have the confidence to keep producing high quality poultry products that are needed to feed the nation – a nation that we know loves British poultry meat and eggs.