Asda makes large change to widespread product throughout UK supermarkets | UK | News | EUROtoday

Asda has ditched its coverage of solely promoting British-sourced recent hen because the UK grapples with provide points. The retailer has been promoting 1kg hen fillet parts below the Just Essentials worth tier in current months. Asda’s web site states that Just Essentials is a variety of merely priced and packaged low-cost meals to swimsuit each finances.

The meat for this vary is now being sourced from Europe by way of its provider – the two Sisters Food Group. The Just Essentials hen vary prices £6.29 per kg and solely seems to be obtainable in-stores, not on-line. The poutlry is reared in Germany and slaughtered within the Netherlands, in keeping with The Grocer.

It marks the primary time in 20 years Asda has moved away from 100% British recent hen traces, trade insiders advised the outlet.

An Asda spokesman mentioned this was largely attributable to “current supply challenges” within the poultry market, claiming it was a “temporary” determination to supply the Just Essentials line “from EU and UK farms”.

He added: “We continue to source all our other fresh primal chicken from UK Red Tractor Assured farms.”

The grocery store nonetheless sources 98% of its recent primal hen from British farms, the retailer says.

The spokesman added that Asda will “ensure customers can continue to find the essential products they need at the prices they expect when they shop with us”.

It comes as the broader UK trade grapples with provide issues, with one insider telling the specialist publication “there isn’t enough chicken to go round”. This comes as an outbreak of avian flu has precipitated a disaster within the poultry sector.

Bird flu outbreaks throughout the nation has compelled many British farmers to chop again on or cease manufacturing. For smaller farms, it’s significantly troublesome to remain viable attributable to rising prices for feed, vaccines, and hygiene measures.

According to some studies, hen bills within the UK have surged by greater than 25% within the 12 months to January 2025.