Food prices could rise even more than feared if the war in Ukraine continues.
One of East Anglia's major producers warns inflation could top 15pc this year because of a shortage of grain caused by the conflict.
Ronald Kers, chief executive of the 2 Sisters Food Group - which has chicken factories at Thetford and Bungay - said the war was causing an agricultural crisis which would impact upon world commodity supplies.
"This conflict brings a major threat to food security in the UK and there is no doubt the outcome of this is that consumers will suffer as a result," he said.
"War disrupts the free flow of trade and the impacts for us are severe. For example, the input costs of producing chicken – with feed being the biggest component – have rocketed. Prices from the farm gate have already risen by almost 50pc in a year.
"Before this war began, four to five per cent food inflation was being forecast by mid-2022. But we now could see a hyper-inflationary environment at closer to 10 to 15pc - more than it's been for 50 years - if this conflict isn’t resolved quickly."
Ukrainian and Russian exports account for an estimated 30pc of the global wheat supply.
But farmers in Ukraine have left the fields to fight, while Russian exports will be halted by trade sanctions.
Mr Kers said: "Ukrainian farmers should be sowing crops in March, instead they’re fighting for their country.
"If this war is not stopped now, the UK could experience a major drop in supply of products like wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower oil."
Food prices are also at the mercy of rising fuel prices, which will drive up distribution costs.
2 Sisters is the UK’s biggest producer of chicken. It produces 6m birds a week - a third of all those consumed in Britain - and supplies every major supermarket chain. It is also the biggest producer of ready meals, own label pizzas and pies.
The firm is owned by Ranjit Singh, who also owns Bernard Matthews. The same cost increases will be felt across his holdings, which also include a specialist poultry operation in Eye, while he is also in the process of buying Banham Poultry in Attleborough.
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