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UK poultry processor Avara Foods has announced plans to close its Abergavenny, Wales, facility this autumn, putting 400 employees at risk. The company said the closure is the result of rising prices following the Covid-19 pandemic, which "significantly reduced demand for UK-produced turkey in the retail market". Avara stated: "To maintain a competitive customer offer, Avara has started to reengineer its turkey business to operate a more efficient operational footprint focused on fewer, better-invested facilities". The company says that over the last six months it had looked at several options, including different uses for the site, to enable its wider business to compete effectively in the market. Avara added: "Regretfully, this process identified that volumes could be processed more efficiently in other operations and with lower capital investment. This has resulted in the proposal to close the Abergavenny site." "This difficult decision has not been taken lightly and in no way reflects on the hard-working colleagues." Avara will begin a collective consultation process with affected staff, in which the company added that the nature of the consultation "means that no final decisions have been made and there will be no speculation as to how the process will conclude".