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Millions of British face a “national shortage” of turkeys, toys and trees this Christmas due to a shortage of skilled European employees after Brexit, according to the chair of the Agricultural Association. There is likely to be.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) said last month that the UK is facing a shortage of about 100,000 HGV drivers. This, along with Brexit, was exacerbated by people leaving the industry and pandemics, almost stopping driver training and testing. 1 year.
As a result, the food supply chain was severely disrupted, causing shortages on the shelves of some UK supermarkets.
Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey Association (TFTA) Kate Martin said Christmas could see a “national shortage” of turkeys on the shelves of British supermarkets due to a declining supply of skilled European workers. I told the company.
Small UK farms that utilize local workers are less affected by supply shortages, but supermarkets are likely to experience the worst, TFTA said.
“This year, when we’re talking about supermarket shelves rather than buying directly from the farm, it looks like there’s a national shortage of turkeys,” Martin said.
“This year, the shelves in the supermarket will be emptyer than before, because there are fewer turkeys on the ground, because big processors know they won’t be processed.”
TFTA, a group of independent family-owned farms that produce free-range Christmas turkey, said some poultry farms have already received five times as many orders this year as they did during the same period last year.
When asked if turkeys would be completely gone in the supermarket, Martin urged consumers to “receive orders very quickly.”
“We’ve received more orders than ever before. It’s Christmas. If you quit ordering turkey from a local farmer, you’re out of luck.”
Martin says Brexit is partly due to a potential country shortage, while Britain faces long-term vacancies amid aging labor, low wages and poor truck stops. Said that it has become a target.
“We are small producers and use local labor, but for large processors it is due to a 100% labor shortage,” she said.
“This situation of turkey is caused by the fact that the European workforce is no longer available to us, they are skilled workers who have come to us for years.
“People are now losing a lot of the workforce they have trained and invested in over the past years, and those workers are no longer available seasonally. They are in mainland Europe. You will find a job. Instead. “
Last week, the government announced that 5,000 HGV drivers and 5,500 poultry workers would be brought in on a three-month contract to stock turkeys on supermarket shelves to address fueling difficulties. Station after a shortage of fuel tanker drivers.
In addition, up to 4,000 people will be trained as new truck drivers, and about one million letters will be sent to people with HGV licenses within a few days to seduce them to start over.
However, Britain’s exit from the EU was a British truck driver, despite RHA’s estimates that Britain’s exit from the EU led to the outflow of 20,000 carriers, Britain’s Secretary of Transport Grant Shapps emailed on Sunday. He said he was only a “relatively minor contributor” of the lack of.
Chaps also accused RHA of the chaotic gas station scene and leaked comments from BP’s boss about supply concerns.
And it’s not just turkeys that can be affected by the potential shortage of Christmas this year.
Mark Rofe, who owns ChristmasTrees.co.uk, said: Evening standard Approximately one-tenth of the real Christmas trees sold in the UK were imported last week, but post-Brexit regulations and rising prices can lead to shortages.
Rofe says British producers are already experiencing growing demand for locally grown trees. And time-sensitive business. “
Meanwhile, toy retailers faced rising costs of shipping from Asian manufacturers to the UK in the turmoil of their supply chains, paralyzing the blockade of COVID-19 on many of the continents.
Reuters and PA contributed to this report.
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Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She focuses primarily on the United States and covers the news and business of The Epoch Times.
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