ABATTOIR SECTOR NEWS
NCB AND ABATTOIR SECTOR GROUP ACTIVITY UPDATE
National Craft Butcher’s abattoir members are a valued and integral part of our membership. Together with NCB’s partners in the Abattoir Sector Group we are committed to supporting a network of thriving small abattoirs across the UK. We aim to do this by raising the profile of local abattoirs across governments, working with all stakeholders, seeking access to funding and sharing information and best practice for the benefit of all.
DEFRA – After the excellent news last year that Abattoirs would be classed as ancillary services and eligible for future funding initiatives, we now find ourselves waiting on DEFRA to confirm this. Whilst this is frustrating for all involved National Craft Butchers (NCB) and the Abattoir Sector Group (ASG) are committed to pursuing this and will keep you updated on future developments.
EFRA – NCB sent its response to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee enquiry and contributed to the ASG response. We stressed that the
deficiencies in the slaughterhouse network have been well recognised and highlighted to Government by the All-Party Parliamentary Group of Animal Welfare report and others. Coverage was achieved in The Farmers Guardian, who published the following from the ASG response,
“Given the importance of this for animal welfare, the ASG would call for greater formal scrutiny of these proposals by the EFRA Select Committee, in particular on ensuring the provision of a local, sustainable network of abattoirs across the UK.”
FSA - The FSA should now have restarted their regional FSA/FBO meetings for abattoirs. These will be an opportunity for FBO’s to raise any concerns and suggest improvements in inspection and regulation. The FSA will also be able to give updates on Operational Transformation and the small abattoir trials that are being finalised. Richard Sharp is the small abattoir contact at the FSA and is coordinating these meetings.
NCB Abattoir Zoom Meetings – Our regular Abattoir zoom meetings have been a great way for the industry to keep
each other up to date on the issues faced and to provide us with the information we need to keep pushing in the right places for the support needed. Our last meeting covered: funding, hides and skins and waste prices.
Our next meeting will be Monday May 17th where we will be sharing updates on our work and discussing mapping of abattoirs in the UK, cutting and packing services and specialist slaughter. If any abattoir members have yet to receive their invitation, please email
info@nationalcraftbutchers.co.uk to be sent the meeting link.
NCB Abattoir Survey – Launched at the end of March we are keen to collate as many responses from small/local abattoirs throughout the UK as possible, so we can better understand and represent the sector. The information will be used to provide a complete picture of the importance small abattoirs play in the local food chain and the industry as a whole. We are working towards publishing our results in June. If you are an abattoir owner/operator or know of one please get in touch as there may still be time to complete our survey.
Abattoir Survey Early Responses
Thank you for completing our survey here's what we've found out so far
Monday is the most popular kill day
Nearly all offer Private Kill
Majority of customers are within 35 miles
Sheep, Lamb and Pig slaughter is the service most provided
Game & OTM slaughter is the service least provided
All respondents so far are eager to employ and train apprentice slaughterers
Note: Infographic based on initial responses only. Once all responses are collated final results will be published.
CRAFT BUTCHER MAY/JUNE 2021| 3
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