Christmas meat treats such as ‘pigs in blankets’ could be at risk as Brexit ‘puts off seasonal workers from EU’
- Fears festive meat treats such as ‘pigs in blankets’ could be at risk due to Brexit
- Firms warning that seasonal staff from the EU are being turned off coming to UK
- Wrapping cocktail sausages in bacon is ‘hard to mechanise’ so done by hand
Festive meat treats like ‘pigs in blankets’ could be at risk due to a shortage in workers from the EU, it was claimed today.
The UK is not attracting enough seasonal staff to keep production plants running at high capacity this Christmas, the British Meat Processors Association warned.
The MPA’s chief executive, Nick Allen, told the BBC that wrapping cocktail sausages in bacon is ‘fiddly and hard to mechanise’ so had to be done by hand.
Other preparation jobs, such as stuffing turkey crowns for the Christmas table, also need the dexterity and hard work of real people to do the job.
Mr Allen said it was difficult to attract UK nationals to work in meat plants, because the working conditions and tough and they tend to be in rural areas where there is relatively low unemployment.
The MPA’s chief executive, Nick Allen, told the BBC that creating ‘pigs in blankets’ is ‘fiddly and hard to mechanise’ so had to be done by hand
Mr Allen highlighted the fall in the value of the pound, bringing down real wage values, had hit recruitment and the message coming out of the UK was ‘not exactly welcoming’.
‘Ever since Brexit happened, it’s become hard to hold on to European labour,’ he said.
‘The working conditions in meat plants, including the low temperatures need to preserve the meat, made it hard to attract workers, while demand for seasonal labour was naturally higher in other sectors too, especially delivering Christmas cards and parcels.’
The Association represents the majority of companies working in the British meat industry, handling beef, lamb and pork products.
Its members are responsible for supplying fresh meat and meat products to retailers, restaurants and food service companies throughout the UK.
The industry employs about 75,000 people and is worth more than £7bn a year to the British economy.
The organisation’s concerns were confirmed by the British Poultry Council, which warned that ‘finding sufficient labour is becoming a massive challenge for the poultry meat sector as the uncertainty around Brexit is prompting many of our workers to seek jobs in other countries’.
If the shortage continues it would ‘pose a risk to the affordability of British food’ as staff bills will rise for firms.
A Council spokesman said: ‘If these vacancies cannot be filled post-Brexit, we will not have access to the labour needed to feed this nation, which will have a significant impact on the production of, and therefore cost of food.’
MPs have been rowing over how, when and whether Brexit should happen (pictured is the House of Commons tonight)