As with any commodity, the price of Livestock is also determined by supply and demand over the past few months, in fact since January lamb prices have rocketed. As my co founder has reliably informed me this price increase is unprecedented. In his words “I have never known anything like it.” Keeping in mind he is a 4th generation farmer, so if anyone knows what he‘s talking about it’s him.
So what are the reasons for this significant increase which, by the way since January 2018 has risen by almost 60%. Well firstly, we in the UK have a had a harsh winter causing a variety of issues to breeding and other problems. This led to a shortage of new season lambs pushing up the price of old season lambs to a record high. New season lambs are traditionally born in spring and then are not really ready for consumption till around June/July. The weather may have delayed this for a month or two causing a shortage.
Secondly, after a very long absence, the GCC countries have removed a long-standing ban on Lambs from the UK. The ban came into place after some foot and mouth disease issues, some farms had a couple of decades ago. This has seen a massive increase in demand for British lambs.
These two main factors have led to the price increase that we are currently having to face and has impacted all the major mainstream supermarket brands as well as independent butchers on the high street.
At Hill Farm Finest we have had our lamb prices the same since our inception back in the summer of 2016. However, we are now unable to keep our prices at that level. As of this week, 8th May 2018, we have increased the price of our full lamb and half lamb prices. The Hill Farm Finest promise to you as always is to provide you with the very best quality of lamb that is available on the market.
If you have any questions regarding our product range please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for your time.
Usman Rauf
Co Founder
Hill Farm Finest