Insights from The British Pig & Poultry Fair 2026
Insights from The British Pig & Poultry Fair 2026
Cultura Connect at the Pig & Poultry Show
Pam and Laura spent the day at the Pig & Poultry Show this week, soaking up two brilliant panel discussions on where the industry is heading — and, importantly for us, the ‘people challenge’ sitting right at the heart of it. Here's a flavour of what came out of the talks we attended on day one.
Poultrymeat Outlook: Expert Insights for the Year Ahead
Chaired by Ralph Bishop of Premier Nutrition, this panel brought together Mark Gorton (Managing Director, Traditional Norfolk Poultry), Sam Drummond (Director, EC Drummond) and David Nelson (Agriculture and Commercial Director, Avara Foods) — three voices with decades of combined experience across the supply chain.
The mood was genuinely optimistic. Chicken consumption is forecast to grow 5–6% over the next five years, with consumer demand for high-welfare British produce continuing to climb. As David noted, UK provenance has become a flagship for quality and welfare standards that sit well above much of what's imported (and the UK still imports around 55% of the poultry it consumes). The move to 30kg stocking density was described as one of the biggest welfare shifts of David's career.
The challenges are real, though:-
- Planning permission — described as one of the single biggest barriers to growth, with NGO pressure increasingly stalling new builds.
- Cost of new poultry housing — roughly doubled since Covid, making investment decisions tougher.
- Avian influenza — Avara alone has absorbed around £2m in AI-related costs over the past two years, and Mark spoke about Traditional Norfolk Poultry running the UK's first vaccination trial on turkeys, with the rest of the world watching closely.
- Route to market for whole-bird cuts — wings, legs and drumsticks aren't moving the way breast meat is, and the panel called for more innovation in product development plus better engagement from the public sector (schools, hospitals) to buy more home-grown poultry.
On labour, around 80% of seasonal workers are overseas nationals already living in the UK, and retention is generally strong where employers invest properly — Mark cited 80% returnee rates at Traditional Norfolk Poultry. The average age of a UK broiler farm building is 35 years old, which tells its own story about the scale of investment needed.
Three words the panel chose to sum up the future of poultry: Optimistic, Excited, Great!
Sustainable Farms Need Sustainable People
This was the panel closest to our world at Cultura Connect. Chaired by Chloe Ryan (Poultry Business Editor), the panel featured Hannah Cargill (Avara Foods), pig producer Molly Gimson, Rebecca Tonks (St Ewe), and Sara Perez (Poultry Health Services).
The conversation kept circling back to a simple truth: sustainable farms aren't possible without sustainable people. A few themes really stood out for Pam and Laura:-
- It's a lifestyle, not a job — and that's both the appeal and the challenge. Finding people who want to work on-farm in all weathers, and keeping them engaged through the tougher seasons, is an ongoing piece challenge
- Veterinary careers are changing fast — the majority of newly qualified vets are now women, and the industry needs to adapt working patterns to support genuine work-life balance. Sara spoke about how isolating farm vet work can be, particularly for new graduates making big calls on flocks of hundreds of thousands of birds, and the importance of one-to-one support to keep people in the profession
- Younger talent is more capable than we give them credit for — Rebecca made the point strongly. St Ewe employs 159 people aged 17 to 70, and with the right leadership programmes, mentoring and mental health first aider training in place, younger team members are flourishing
- Working parents need a voice — Hannah described the working parents' group Avara has set up, which has become a space for mums (mostly) to swap war stories, share practical solutions and feel less alone
- Pig and poultry are tight-knit industries — Molly's team of six has been with her for eight years, which says a lot about what's possible when you get the culture right
- Education is the key — from primary schools (so kids understand where their food actually comes from) through to agricultural colleges (which still don't offer enough poultry-specific content), the panel were unanimous that the industry needs to do far more to make these careers visible and aspirational
The closing thought: farmers are the second most trusted profession in the UK after nurses. The industry needs to be prouder and louder about that, rather than letting a small but vocal minority of NGOs shape the public narrative.
Women in Agriculture drinks reception
After the panels wrapped up, Pam and Laura headed over to the Women in Agriculture drinks reception — a great chance to catch up with familiar faces and new ones.It was lovely to spend more time with Hannah Cargill of Avara Foods following her panel earlier in the day, and to dig a little deeper into the working parents' group she's helped foster at Avara.
Pam and Laura also enjoyed a really good conversation with Alice Bell, who heads up the Royal Agricultural Society of England's Technical Events team and is the driving force behind the British Pig & Poultry Fair. The Women in Agriculture network continues to do a fantastic job of championing the visibility of women across every part of the industry — long may it continue.
Key takeaways
Both panels reinforced something we feel every day at Cultura Connect — that the future of UK pig and poultry depends just as much on the people pipeline as it does on planning permission, infrastructure investment or trade deals. Building careers, supporting progression, and making these industries visible to the next generation is work in progress, and it's work we're proud to be part of.
Huge thanks to the organisers and panellists for such a thought-provoking day. Plenty to take back into our conversations with clients and candidates across the sector.
