It is said that no chicken ever dies of old age, but the UK’s poultry sector is fighting for its life. Input costs like water, labour, energy and feed are all rising. Combine that with trade barriers, shipping delays and a skills shortage, and it’s a recipe for disaster – unless costs can be passed on.
Nando’s and KFC have hiked prices in recent months, reported The Guardian, but a whole bird can still be bought for as little as £2.89 in Aldi. Remember the uproar when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall exposed the conditions birds were living in so that supermarkets could sell two for a fiver (£2.50 each)? Well, that was 14 years ago and we are still buying a lot of very cheap chicken.
We each chomp through 27.5kg of the meat every year. Poultry overtook red meat sales for the first time in 2017 and now accounts for over 50% of meat consumption, according to Eating Better, a campaign group.
But at the weekend the Coop’s chief executive warned that “chicken could become as expensive as beef”. Steve Murrells said: “The chicken industry has particular challenges because of the feed costs. The majority of cattle raised in this country are fed grass and it is not required to have high-dense feed. Chicken, which was incredibly cheap and great value for money, is rising quicker than any other protein.”
Boris Johnson obviously didn’t have time to read that report in the Sunday Times, as he blamed the “crazy” chicken prices on international fuel supply problems. The British Poultry Council soon corrected the prime minister on twitter (as reported by the Independent newspaper).
With supply tight and prices rising, “foodservice and hospitality are as usual further down the pecking order in terms of supply”, noted catering butcher Birtwhistles in its February market report. Some school caterers have had to switch to vegetarian nuggets (whether that’s a good thing is moot, as discussed below).
March’s report from the butcher, reported by Propel, noted: “Anyone still unsure [about the rising cost of chicken] can take a look at the retailers who can be the most competitive in terms of pricing. They have also had to act, with the cost of skinless/boneless thigh ranging from £5.25 to £7 per kilogramme.” The butcher added that comparisons in prices on free-range chicken to beef rump steaks are “real and out there”.
Could this derail the plans by some food chains to switch to slower growing breeds of poultry? Research has shown these breeds have fewer injuries and are less prone to disease – they even have more fun. A few more days alive, though, potentially means more feed, more energy, more emissions – and more costs.
Or, could the end of cheap chicken boost switches to alternative proteins and, eventually, cultured meats? Perhaps.
ProVeg, a food system NGO, has been talking up cultured meat and the need to invest more public funds to help scale the product lines (it’s worth noting that those making poultry meat in the lab have been eyeing price parity with the real thing; if feed costs keep rising they could get there sooner than they think).
Meanwhile, research by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, based in Germany, has showed that substituting a fifth of meat from cattle with microbial protein – a meat alternative produced in fermentation tanks – by 2050 could halve deforestation. “The good news is that people do not need to be afraid they can eat only greens in the future. They can continue eating burgers and the like, it’s just that those burger patties will be produced in a different way,” said Florian Humpenöder, lead author of the study published in Nature (see here for more on the opportunities that blended burgers could present for foodservice companies)
Sodexo continued its plant-based push this week with the launch of its Plant+ by Finer Diner menus in 16 schools. Developed with WWF-UK and inspired by the Future 50 Foods report, published by the charity and Knorr Professional in 2019, the menu includes vegan burgers, chickpea and spinach curry and puy lentil soft shell tacos.
Dairy-free brand Oatly has also been pressing for more of its products to be sold in schools. “[…] it’d be cool if you could also start a trend to replace cow’s milk with plant-based milk in schools, potentially resulting in way less CO2e over time, a happier current planetary situation, and improved school cafeteria memories for all,” the company posted on Instagram.
Oatly was slapped by the Advertising Standards Authority recently for greenwashing in adverts about the impact of dairy milk. The Insta-post cites research to back up the CO2e claim but the use of vague terms like “way less” and “a happier current planetary system” are likely to irk farmers and the ASA alike (see Arla’s research in the main news).
Whether it is cultured meat, fermentation-derived protein or a plant-based alternative, imitation products are under more scrutiny than ever.
In April there was the IPES-Food report that honed in on the sustainability claims being made (Footprint neatly summarised the report, but those after a slightly longer overview of the 104-page tome should check out this Civil Eatspiece written by the lead author).
This week the World Health Organization, in its regional obesity report 2022 (see main news), has warned that the move towards plant-based foods is “characterised by convenience foods that are often unhealthy and energy-dense”. So WHO is going to “investigate and characterise” the nutritional content of commercially available plant-based products sold as substitutes for conventional animal-source foods.
