By now, the idea of meat shortages this Christmas probably doesn’t come as a total shock, even though it’s never welcome news. But as ever with these things, it’s a bit of a complicated situation, and the extent to which it specifically affects you will all depend on a few factors. If you’re properly tooled up with all your butchers equipment for the Christmas season, with efficient planning you may even find that you’re able to bypass the worst consequences. So, here’s what you need to know.

Labour shortages on farms

One of the biggest factors involves labour shortages, which have already massively impacted the amount of meat that is available to people and trade professionals. A lot of this is down to Brexit, and the Covid pandemic, both of which have influenced many foreign-born workers to return home, or seek employment in other countries.

Other types of skilled labour are in short supply too, such as a shortage of vets. It is a legal requirement for vets to be onsite at the abattoirs to make sure that all the meat that is processed is fit for consumption. There are particular food items that are expected to remain in short supply and increase in price, which we will go into further detail below.

Fewer Turkeys

Turkeys have already gone up in price by 83p, and are expected to increase more, or even run out. Due to a shortage of workers in farms and processing plants, 1 million fewer birds are being raised as a result. Producers had thought that goose would be a viable alternative for Turkey until a large outbreak of Avian flu appeared, putting a halt to those hopes.

Fewer pigs in blankets

Pigs in Blankets have suffered the worst when shortages are concerned, as they need more intensive labour to make them compared to other types of Christmas food. Butchers from abroad have been allowed in on temporary visas in order to cope with rising demand, due to farmers having to previously cull 14,000 healthy pigs as they didn’t have the workers needed, and this figure is rising every day. 150,000 more excess pigs need to be processed in the coming weeks, some of which may need to be culled, so this figure will rise higher and higher. They’ve gone up by 12p, and are a favourite of many Christmas meals.

pigs in blankets

Vegetables increasing in price

On the one hand, there’s no shortage of Brussel sprouts at the moment due to the great growing season that they’ve had. However, inflation for many vegetables has increased dramatically. In fact, due to the aforementioned labour shortages, everything from fertiliser to packaging has also increased. Therefore, you can expect to receive all your favourite vegetables when Christmas arrives but it’s likely to cost you more than in previous years.

More shortages

The problems don’t stop at labour shortages. Recent increases in energy prices have led to even more delays in getting shipping containers unloaded, as well as global commodity prices rising thanks to the problems with the global supply chain. These problems all add up onto the already large problems with meat to create massive delays and shortages.

What’s being done?

A big part of the problem is that being a butcher is a far more skilled job than many people give it credit for, and training new ones all takes time. Inductees usually have to train for 18 months before becoming a certified butcher, and obviously there just isn’t the time to train them up in time for Christmas.

The government has issued hundreds of emergency visas to try and ease the problem, and although it is possible that the problems will ease as more workers are allowed in the country to work, it is still likely to see empty shelves when Christmas time comes. Many butchers and farm shops have allowed for pre-ordering food many weeks in advance, or even getting them early and putting them in the freezer to ensure that whatever happens, they’ll be okay as Christmas day rolls around.

We don’t have any quick answers to these problems ourselves here at Butchers Equipment Warehouse, but we certainly do have all the equipment you need for your butchering needs, including butchers knives and sharpeners, leaving you one less thing to worry about. If you need advice, call one of our experts today on 01254 427761 and we’ll be happy to help!