Ranjit Singh Boparan, owner of East Anglia turkey producer Bernard Matthews, said that the first workers will arrive in the next few days to prepare for the busy festival.
Boparan said: “We are only a few weeks away from Christmas. It is very good news to be able to report that we are now in mid-November. We are working hard to fill a large number of job vacancies that we have acquired at this time of the year. increase.
“This means that we should be able to complete all of our estimated turkey orders, and there will be enough turkeys to supply. Everyone should be able to purchase their Christmas turkeys this year. This is good news.”
Bernard Matthews and Bopalan’s two sisters food The poultry products produced by the group account for about one-third of all poultry products consumed by the British.
The group’s 600 farms and 16 factories employ 18,000 employees, but its ideal labor shortage is about 10%, or about 1,800 jobs. However, this has been reduced from a shortage of about 15% earlier this year.
The government announced in September that 5,500 poultry workersPeople from overseas can work in the UK before Christmas. Due to concerns about the new immigration rules after Brexit and the impact of the pandemic, the number of food manufacturing workers returning to the country hit a record high, and poultry processing plants are facing severe labor shortages, so a temporary visa program was introduced.
Bopalan said he hopes to have a similar plan next year and start processing visas early.
He had previously warned that due to rising wages, labor shortages would mean fewer choices and potentially empty shelves and higher prices for shoppers.
Last month Boparan stated that the cost of chicken will reach Up by more than 10%, Adding that British food is currently “too cheap”.
On Wednesday, he said: “Labor, as a key structural challenge for our industry, lasts for 12 months in a year and will not disappear.
“When the demand is as great as ever, we just don’t want to see our industry shrink, especially at Christmas. For example, it would be foolish to fill in any gaps by using imports. We think British consumers don’t want to see this.”
Boparan’s latest comments came as the Food Standards Agency wrote to meat producers assuring them that additional measures are being taken to ensure that processing is not widely hindered by a shortage of veterinarians.
FSA Chief Operating Officer Colin Sullivan told the trade magazine Food Manufacturing that when it has to work with individual companies, it may “occasionally interrupt” to determine when a veterinarian can be provided to approve the conditions of the slaughterhouse, which is an important part of slaughter. process.
The FSA stated that due to strong demand across Europe and the impact of the pandemic and “migration patterns”, the number of veterinarians has been reduced by approximately 20% compared to the “optimal level” at the time. However, it said it has invested additional funds to increase salaries to retain a sufficient number of veterinarians, while taking other measures, such as allowing overseas workers with lower English proficiency to perform certain restricted jobs.
