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Tuesday 26 June 2007
Wheat crisis will result in higher chicken prices, warns poultry company
A global shortage of wheat means the price of chicken on supermarket shelves is going to have to go up, according to leading poultry company Lloyd Maunder Ltd.
Willand-based Lloyd Maunder Ltd. produces 500,000 chicken a week, including the new Devonshire Red range, which are sold in supermarkets up and down the UK. Currently the company is having to pay around 40 per cent more for wheat than at this time last year, which means production costs have escalated and consequently the retail price of chicken will have to rise.
“The wheat crisis is global, but there are very immediate implications for the food and farming industries in the West Country,” says Andrew Maunder, Lloyd Maunder's commercial director. “We're confident consumers will be willing to pay a bit more if they understand why the price increase is needed.
“Fifty years ago chicken was a luxury, but the price has been getting lower and lower and today it's a relatively cheap commodity. We're hoping a few extra pence shouldn't be that difficult to swallow if shoppers understand it's helping keep farmers on the land and in business. Our retail culture provides consumers with a huge amount of choice, but with that must come responsibility and the willingness to pay a fair price, particularly for the food we eat.”
Lloyd Maunder is suggesting a retail price rise of about 13p per kilogram – which would put around 20p on the price of a 1.5kg whole chicken - in order to cover the increasing cost of wheat.
Wheat is the main ingredient needed for chicken feed, which is supplied by the company's dedicated feed mill in Uffculme to the 157 family-run farms which grow chicken for Lloyd Maunder in the West Country.
Globally, wheat stocks are at their lowest level for 30 years. This is due to the combined impact of a rapidly growing world population, droughts and bad harvests, increased demand as diets change in places like China, and the rush to replace wheat crops with bio-fuels in a bid to help counter climate change.
“One thing we won't compromise on is the quality of our chicken,” continues Andrew Maunder. “This is why the only option is for us to ask supermarkets to put up the shelf price just to enable us to shoulder this massive rise in wheat costs, especially as it's likely to continue to rise. A whole corn fed chicken will still cost less than a couple of large cappuccino's from Starbucks*.”
As well as working with 157 farming families in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, Lloyd Maunder also employs more than 800 staff at its processing plant at Willand, near Cullompton.
The company launched a major new campaign for its Devonshire Red range at the Devon County Show in May. More than 60 per cent of Lloyd Maunder's output is now ‘higher welfare' chicken – organic and free range, plus corn fed which is reared indoors to RSPCA Freedom Food standards. The new Devonshire Red brand has been developed specifically to market these chicken and promises to make Devon synonymous with quality chicken nationwide.
The company is inviting people to email their comments about the proposed price increase, to help gauge whether it will have consumer support. Please write to marketing@lloydmaunder.co.uk. For more information about the Devonshire Red and Lloyd Maunder visit www.devonshirered.co.uk or www.lloydmaunder.co.uk.
ENDS
More press information from Veronica Newport 01363 866927
Notes to editors:
*Price rise example - Lloyd Maunder's corn fed chicken currently retails at Sainsbury's for £3.25/kg, so a 1.5kg whole chicken currently costs £4.87. A 13p per kg price rise would increase this to £3.38/kg, or £5.07 for a 1.5kg whole chicken – less than two large cappuccinos from Starbucks which cost £2.55 each.