2 Sisters Food Group, a major chicken supplier to UK retailers, faces uncertainty over its water supply after shortages affected the processor’s site in Devon.
South West Water restrictions into the Willand facility in the town of Cullompton disrupted production at the poultry plant on Wednesday and Thursday, prompting 2 Sisters to warn that the “consequences extend beyond our own operations, including the supply of food to major retail customers”.
While a company spokesperson told Just Food that water supply has been fully restored today (17 July) on a short-term basis, there is no guarantee there will not be further disruption over the weekend and into next week.
As a contingency measure, 2 Sisters is installing static water tanks at the Willand plant this weekend as it engages in ongoing discussions with South West Water on a daily basis, the spokesperson said.
2 Sisters explained the risks earlier in the week, also via a spokesperson. “The restrictions being made on water supplies to our Willand poultry processing site will create a serious and immediate animal welfare risk.
“Water is essential to every stage of our operation, including those relating to legally-required hygiene and food safety procedures. We have already reduced our water consumption by almost 30% and below this level we cannot operate the site to the required food safety and animal health and welfare requirements.”
South West Water said on its website it would place restrictions on hosepipe usage from Tuesday this week across select parts of Devon, including Cullompton, due to the hot weather.
It said the “two recent extreme heatwaves have increased demand for water in the region by around 5.4 million litres every day, placing significant pressure on the local drinking water supply network”.
In terms of businesses, and specifically 2 Sisters, South West Water said in a statement sent to Just Food today. “We fully recognise the importance of animal welfare and appreciate the operational challenges faced by the company and its supply chain.
“As a temporary measure, we have acted quickly to respond to multiple requests from the company to provide additional water to enable them to process all birds on site and in the immediate supply chain, and to implement their business continuity plan."
The water company added: “We are having daily conversations with the business and agreeing the steps needed to protect its operations, our network and the water supply for the surrounding communities.”
Earlier in the week, 2 Sisters had said “any prolonged disruption creates significant welfare concerns, including increased mortality, overcrowding on farms, disease risks and wider knock-on impacts across the supply chain”.
Owned by billionaire businessman Ranjit Singh Boparan, 2 Sisters supplies retail own-label poultry to chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer. It is also a supplier to KFC.
South West Water said it had “made sure the water pressure to the business has remained above the legal minimum standard”.
It added: “Before we took any action, we made extensive efforts to engage with the business regarding the developing supply constraints and the need to reduce demand, including support to identify opportunities to lower consumption and improve resilience at their site.”
