Now consumers should question cheap imports — broiler breeders told

Having survived bird flu, the British poultry industry now needs to get consumers to question the value of cheap imports of chicken meat, not produced to the standards of quality assurance required of UK producers, Matthias Mangels European head of vaccine sales for Lohmann Animal Health told a Shropshire meeting of the country's top broiler-breeders.

Supermarkets and food manufacturers are unlikely to change their suppliers unless they face negative reactions from their customers.

Despite the saturation media coverage of bird flu, there was no mass turning away from chicken-meat in the UK. "I believe that this must be due, at least, in part, to the perception of the standards under which British birds are reared and the quality assurance schemes," he commented

"For the benefit of all of us this is a message which needs reinforcing with the general public. You all well know to your considerable cost, the host of regulations — ranging from food safety and welfare to pollution control — with which you have to comply. Yet we are still faced with floods of imports from areas of the world where producers do not have to bear these burdens and production is cheaper.

"Consumers ought to begin to question the value of these imports. I doubt if the supermarkets or food manufacturers will do this, so it is up to us within the production side of the industry to point out just how high our standards are required to be. Consumers need to be reminded of the differences.

He pointed out that being at the very top of the production supply chain, broiler-breeders, were extremely influential. "I have to say your record on health control has been exemplary. For example, there has been tremendous uptake of our salmonella vaccines which also helps to protect the product and adds the perception of quality to its profile. That sends out all the right signals to the rest of the industry, but the message is still not getting through to general public," he suggested.

The meeting was followed by an informal clay pigeon shoot.