UK chicken meat production, which has been an important growth story in domestic agriculture, is now at risk, according to analysis included in a new report from Cranswick.
The Where Great Food Comes From report highlights the increasing reliance on imported chicken, noting that the UK imported more than twice as much chicken by value in 2025 as it did in 2020.
Imports came from countries including Poland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Brazil and Thailand.
Writing in the report, Sarah Bradbury, chief executive of IGD, said UK chicken production had been “an important growth story in domestic agriculture” but that “this success is now at risk”.
She called for urgent action from government, including faster approval processes for new poultry sheds.
The report, produced with research and analysis from Oxford Economics, focuses on Cranswick’s wider economic contribution and the role of British food production in food security.
Cranswick said it now supports 49,900 jobs across the UK and contributes £3.3bn to UK GDP, including more than £1bn in Yorkshire and the Humber.
The company also highlights the nutritional contribution of chicken, citing AHDB analysis which found that shopping baskets containing red meat or chicken were almost twice as likely to contain fruit or vegetables.
Cranswick chief executive Adam Couch said British food production had a role in “economic prosperity, boosting food security and creating jobs in nations and regions across the UK”.
The report comes as Cranswick continues to invest in UK food production, with the business stating that it aims to reinvest 50% of its EBITDA into the UK each year.