Brits will have much less homegrown bacon this year as pork output plunges, threatening to keep prices high.
(Bloomberg) — Brits will have much less homegrown bacon this year as pork output plunges, threatening to keep prices high.
The UK’s pig sector has been battered in recent years. Tens of thousands of animals were culled because slaughterhouses were short of workers in the wake Brexit and the Covid pandemic. Then, Russia’s war in Ukraine boosted producers’ feed and energy costs.
The financial pressures prompted farmers to sharply reduce breeding herds, and pork output could sink as much as 15% this year, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board said Friday. That means more imports will be needed to fill the gap, according to livestock analyst Freya Shuttleworth.
It could further add to costs at grocery stores for households being squeezed by the cost—of-living crisis. UK meat inflation is already running 15% above a year earlier, and tighter supply could push prices even higher. But with consumers sensitive to paying more, additional gains “will have to be carefully considered” at risk of curbing demand, Shuttleworth said.
While the UK isn’t a large player in the global pork market, other countries across Europe are also seeing herds shrink.
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