Will the UK's boom in local shopping hold until Christmas?
An Essex hatchery business supplying turkeys poults to farmers across the country is benefiting from the increase in local shopping during the coronavirus pandemic that has led to a boom in sales for butchers.
23 July 2020
3 minute read
By: FarmGate Hatcheries is one of the UK's leading suppliers for poults for farmers producing turkeys for the traditional Christmas market. The business has seen a recent surge as more shoppers turn to local butchers and small businesses to meet their food needs during the pandemic.
“Many butchers have doubled their business and had many new customers coming through their doors,” said Paul Kelly, managing director of FarmGate Hatcheries at Danbury, near Chelmsford. “This has led to farmers who supply butchers with traditional Christmas turkeys ordering more day-old poults.
“Those farmers who supply businesses with good home delivery sales have also seen double-digit growth.
“The feeling is that shopping local and supporting local food producers has gathered momentum. But people have short memories, so it will be interesting to see how many of those people do not go back to their old ways.”
