Support British Farmers and beat the shortages
The well publicised labour shortages have hit the Christmas market hard this year as our seasonal Turkey and Geese farmers rely very heavily on seasonal workers to process their birds.
Because of the forecast shortages many farmers chose to reduce the size of their flocks in 2021 or even to skip this season completely.
KFC and Nandos’s have already been forced to close branches and the British Poultry Council (BPC) says their Members are telling them that many have been forced to cut back weekly chicken production by 5-10 percent, all year-round turkey production by 10 percent and they estimate Christmas turkey production will be down by 20 percent.
The larger retailers are looking to French farmers to fill the gap. Before we joined the EU, a lot of our festive birds came from France, but after we joined and had access to cheap labour we built up our own domestic market.
That looks set to change as our friends across the channel take full advantage of the EU workers we had come to rely on and the French Turkey looks set to make its reappearance on British plates.
To help you find the perfect British Turkey or Goose for Christmas 2021 we’ve searched out the best producers that have birds available this year. You can see the list of Turkey Farms here
Most of them open their books for orders around mid to late September for collection or delivery in the week running up to Christmas.
Check out the farm’s website to see how you can reserve your Turkey or Goose. Many have online shops, others take phone orders.
We’ll be adding more farms as we find them and remember most farms shops and butchers also offer fresh poultry so give them a try as well.
Have a wonderful Christmas this year with a fantastic farm fresh Turkey or Goose reared in the UK
Update 19th September 2021: CO2 Shortages will hit seasonal food production
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is used throughout the meat industry to stun animals before slaughter, in food packaging to extend shelf life and as dry ice to keep deliveries chilled.