Meat industry leaders are pressing the government to give farm and factory water supplies priority over restrictions imposed by water companies, citing food safety, animal welfare and national food security concerns.
Industry warns of supply chain disruption after Devon plant shutdown
The call follows the sudden closure of the 2 Sisters factory in Willand, Devon, which processes up to one million chickens a week. The plant was offline for two days after South West Water imposed restrictions across part of the county due to soaring demand and prolonged dry weather.
“What happened at 2 Sisters Willand is an illustration of how quickly things can go wrong,” said Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council. “It wouldn’t take many examples of that incident to compromise food production in the UK.”
Griffiths estimated that fewer than 20 plants provide 90% of the chicken produced in this country, so a handful of facilities being affected could have a huge impact. He added that the resilience the industry believes it has may be less robust than assumed.
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While the plant itself did not suffer a shutdown, Avara Foods stressed that water is “essential to maintaining animal welfare and food safety standards and to keeping shelves stocked for British consumers.” The company said water use in poultry production is a regulatory requirement and that a formal priority for essential services would be “obvious and necessary.”
Broader industry calls for coordinated water management
Lizzie Wilson, chief executive of the National Pig Association, warned that pig and poultry abattoirs rely on “optimum throughput,” which must be “managed rigorously.” She said disruptions to slaughtering could have a huge impact on supply chains, especially on farms.
Tony Goodger, head of marketing and communications for the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, noted that “livestock can quickly back up on farm which in turn can lead to animal welfare problems.” In poultry farms, a backlog could force birds to be slaughtered on‑site, a scenario the British Poultry Council has previously warned about.
John Powell, chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association, called the Willand incident “of real concern to the whole industry.” He acknowledged that while the sector is resilient and invests heavily in contingency planning, storing the volumes of water needed for modern processing plants poses a far greater challenge than holding strategic reserves of carbon dioxide.
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Powell urged water companies to work “much more closely with industry and government to ensure food processing sites have continuous access to water, irrespective of wider pressures on local supplies.” He concluded that protecting water supplies for critical food production is essential to safeguard animal welfare, maintain food production and protect the resilience of the UK’s food supply chain.
Defra has been approached for comment.
Water scarcity threatens food security.
The industry’s push for water priority reflects a broader tension between essential services and resource constraints. If restrictions tighten further, the risk of cascading effects on meat processing could grow, potentially leading to shortages in retail outlets and higher prices for consumers. The sector’s emphasis on contingency planning suggests that some safeguards exist, yet they may not be sufficient to absorb prolonged drought conditions without explicit policy support.
