UK chicken king: 20-year cheap food binge is over
Britain's 20-year binge on cheap food is coming to an end.
That's according to the country's biggest chicken producer.
The owner of the 2 Sisters Group, known as the "Chicken King", says food price inflation could hit double digits.
It's due to a tidal wave of soaring costs that are crashing through the supply chain.
The UK is emerging from the twin challenges of Brexit and the global health crisis.
It's also facing a shortage of truckers, butchers and warehouse workers that has exacerbated global supply chain strains
Ranjit Singh Boparan says the days when you could feed a family of four with a 3 pound or $4 chicken are coming to an end.
He founded 2 Sisters in 1993.
It sells poultry, pizza and pies, and processes 10.4 million birds a week from more than 700 farms.
Boparan says he doesn't think the British government can fix the problems or control inflation.
He says the constriction of labour supply will lead to wage inflation, and force him to invest in automation.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain's economy must kick its addiction to cheap imported labour.
His government has denied that Brexit is responsible for the strains on the economy.
Though no other European nations have faced the same scale of supply chain disruption.
