2 Agriculture to supply all Scottish chicken

2 Sisters Food Group has announced that all broilers going into the Letham and Coupar Angus plants in Scotland will, in future, be supplied by 2 Agriculture.
Currently, Letham is supplied by Hook 2 Sisters, using a combination of contract growers and rented farms. Chicks for these units are drawn from PD Hook’s hatchery at Dalton in Yorkshire.
The larger Coupar Angus site is supplied by a combination of contract growers and farms owned by 2 Agriculture.
In a statement, 2 Sisters Food Group says it is continuing discussions with all stakeholders who have been affected by its decision to transfer ownership of the Letham plant and downsize at Coupar Angus.
“We can confirm matters in relation to our agricultural base,” said a statement. “Our sister company 2 Agriculture has now been appointed as the agricultural partner for Scotland.
“This means 2 Agriculture will hold responsibility for all on-going and forthcoming contract negotiations with all growers – both partner companies and contract growers.
“There will inevitably be an initial reduction in the number of farmers we require, but this will be spread out across the growing base. Selected farms will be chosen based on investment, quality performance and distance to markets.
“We can confirm that new contracts will be offered to some contract growers in the coming weeks.
“2 Agriculture will also have overall responsibility for the supply of birds to the Letham and Coupar Angus sites.”
The company said its announcement would lift uncertainty around 2 Agriculture in Scotland and secure more than 400 jobs from across the supply chain.
But where it leaves Hook 2 Sisters is less than clear, though the expectation is that the company will cease to operate in Scotland once the last two crops on contract to Letham have cleared in February.
It is anticipated that chicks to the Scottish farms will be drawn from 2 Agriculture’s Inverurie and Duns hatcheries. 2 Sisters estimates the total Scottish market at about 500,000 birds a week and these two hatcheries have almost double that capacity.