Brexit could 'decimate British food industry' warns 2 Sisters' boss

Updated

The chief executive of one of Britain's biggest food and drink businesses has warned that a vote to leave the EU could "decimate the British food industry".

Ranjit Singh Boparan, the founder and boss of 2 Sisters, said that Brexit would result in job losses and put businesses at risk.

He said: "A vote to leave the EU has the potential to decimate the British food industry. It's already a tough environment; highly labour intensive, high volume, producing very low cost products for low margins, and operating in a deflationary market.

"The additional challenges Brexit could create for my industry will put many businesses at risk and I don't think that's a risk worth taking."

Mr Boparan warned that British farmers and other food producers rely on the single market, which some Brexit backers have advocated leaving.

He also said that there is a risk ingredients and packaging costs will increase.

The firm 2 Sisters, which owns the Fox's Biscuits and Goodfella's pizza brands, employs 23,000 across 45 sites in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands and Poland.

It supplies a third of all poultry consumed in the UK, earning Mr Boparan the nickname "chicken king".

Mr Boparan stands at number 267 on The Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £430 million.

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