The Markets
BEEF - As prices have increased over the last few months, buyers and customers have had to look for new ways to maintain margins. In the case of Beef, this has resulted in an increase in imported beef, being brought and used in the UK. Until recently there has been a “take or leave it” attitude. With wider choice, and greater competition, prices are now likely to fall back.
LAMB - Hoggets, juvenile Lambs, are all but a memory this month, with the knock on affect that, there is greater demand on “new” season lamb. This demand has resulted in a “spike” in current prices, but we are hoping for prices to fall back in the latter stages of the month.
PORK - Prices remain strong in the Pork market fundamentally due to a lack of product available. Breeders have been reducing the sizes of
price. All these factors point to prices moving up in the coming weeks and months.
TURKEY - As discussed on our home page, food is a global commodity now, with new opportunities opening up all the time. One of these is the demand for UK Turkey on the continent. As we travel more, so do our foods, and with them demand for raw materials. With a festive demand in the UK around Christmas, there is now demand around Europe during the summer for product to satisfy UK holiday makers. Combined with a smaller supplier base, all of these aspects lead to high current prices with predicted increases during the summer.
Notice Board
E coli Outbreak
While meat has not been involved with the recent outbreak of E coli, the repercussions of this may still be felt. Some suppliers / breeders are “talking up” the probabilities, that some countries may implement import bans, on meat products, from countries involved with this incident, as Russia did with the importation of vegetables.
If this is the way that the current situation evolves, then we will see an affect on the meat market.
What the affect will be, can not be ascertained until the bans are invoked as both gluts and shortages are possible and have the opposite affects on the market trend.
Quote note
“ Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing
By Walt Kelly