Cost of chicken could soar by 17%

PRICES of supermarket chicken could soar after the scorching summer caused a worldwide shortage of feed.

Average wholesale prices have increased by 17% in the past year, found analysts Mintec, making them higher now than at any point in the last decade.

The poultry industry was almost crippled this year by a shortage of carbon dioxide, with 60% of UK plants days away from halting production lines.

The sharp decline in availability of foreign labour due to uncertainty caused by Brexit talks is also adding to costs.

Shraddha Kaul, of the British Poultry Council, said: “The decline in foreign labour is driving inflationary pressures in the cost of employment.”