Britain faces shortages of frozen meals and even Christmas turkey due to a massive and sudden shortage of Carbon Dioxide which is needed to refrigerate goods.
Ocado has paused delivery of frozen products to customers as a result of the dry ice shortage, while the British Poultry Council (BPC) has warned the industry was heading into a “downward spiral towards supply chains seriously struggling”.
A sharp rise in global gas prices has meant two large fertiliser plants in Teesside and Cheshire, which produce CO2 as a by-product, have shut.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng had meetings with industry leaders over the shortages on Saturday and insisted there was no “cause for immediate concern”.
Ranjit Singh Boparan, the owner of Bernard Matthews and 2 Sisters Food Group, said a shortage of both CO2 and workers will affect the supply of turkeys for Christmas.
There are less than 100 days left until Christmas and Bernard Matthews and my other poultry businesses are working harder than ever before to try and recruit people to maintain food supplies.
The supply of Bernard Matthews turkeys this Christmas was already compromised as I need to find 1,000 extra workers to process supplies. Now with no CO2 supply, Christmas will be cancelled.
The CO2 issue is a massive body-blow and puts us at breaking point, it really does. That’s poultry, beef, pork, as well as the wider food industry.
Without CO2, the bottom line is there is less through-put and with our sector already compromised with lack of labour, this potentially tips us over the edge.
The overall effect is welfare compromised and greatly reduced supply. Ready meals lose that vital shelf life. There is potential for massive food waste across the board.
This is clearly a national security issue and unlike the labour supply crisis, where the government response to our sector has been disappointing to say the least, it has to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
