The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has revealed that the country’s poultry industry has grown into a R59 billion industry over the past three years, thanks to additional investments made by industry participants.
Despite progress made in the past year, Sapa CEO Izaak Breitenbach has said that the industry is in distress and is losing money due to several challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and record-high raw material prices.
Load shedding has also cost poultry producers 75 cents per kilogram of chicken produced, and it has caused a backlog in slaughtering schedules.
This has resulted in birds growing older, causing a reduction in production, which, coupled with elevated raw material costs, has led to price hikes. However, local producers have been subsidising these increases, as consumers are becoming more resistant to price hikes.
The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) announced that the country’s poultry industry has expanded to become a R59 billion industry in the past three years, largely due to increased investments from industry players.
