There has been a drop in demand in various cuts, for example, steaks, leading to carcass balance problems in the beef, poultry meat and pig meat sectors.
Those were the words spoken by George Eustice, the secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when discussing the unprecedented challenges presented by Covid-19, earlier this week.
He said that in support of the food sector, the government temporarily relaxed competition law and regulations relating to driver hours and delivery times so that the sector could “work together to keep putting food on shelves”.
He pointed out that following a significant spike in consumer demand, stock levels in supermarkets have improved and panic buying has stopped.
Steaks on promotion in supermarkets
“We have encouraged supermarkets to put steaks on promotion and, while the price of beef cattle has reduced in recent weeks, retailers are also reporting an increase in meat sales.”
“Although the price of beef cattle, poultry and pigs has dropped, it still remains higher than in previous years..”
“Quite a lot of beef, poultry meat and pig meat has gone into storage, so we continue to monitor this market closely.” he added.
