Chicken shortages warning as bird flu outbreak hits poultry sector hard

The price of chicken is expected to go up in few months time as the poultry industry battles the outbreak of bird flu which has seen prices of eggs skyrocketing in the past weeks. 

The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) sounded the alarm on possible chicken meat price rise and shortages yesterday citing the outbreak of the avian flu which hit the country in July. At least 2,7-million chickens being lost to date to prevent further spread of the disease, the national department of agriculture said yesterday.

“In terms of the meat side of the business, we would expect shortages between now and December, although one must always keep in mind that we import about 10-20% of our total demand for chicken that we have and we expect that demand to increase,” said Izaak Breitenbach, general manager at Sapa.

The worst affected provinces by the avian flu are Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape and now the department is assisting with the importation of fertile eggs for the broiler industry. The disease doesn't affect humans. 

A box of 60 eggs, which cost around R100 two months ago, now costs around R150 at some shops and this is due to reduced chicken stock in farms.

“The increase of egg prices is a factor of influenza. If you look at the total amount of birds that we culled that are supposed to produce stable eggs, we probably culled in excess of 30% of the nation's flock and that is material. And if we look at the broiler breeders that eventually produce the broiler meat for us, we have culled in excess 20% of that flock. So with the volume of birds, it has the effect of supply, both in essence of eggs and meat,” said Breitenbach. 

Rainbow Chicken, one of the country's biggest producers of chicken, lost 330,000 birds since July to a value of R100m and also said this has influenced the prices for both chicken products and eggs. 

“Our pricing reflects supply and demand dynamics and the complex nature of manufacturing costs, including fuel, feed, commodities and currency fluctuations. These factors can be volatile, necessitating price adjustments for sustainable operations. Rainbow is committed to transparent, ethical pricing to support the poultry industry's long-term viability,” said spokesperson Tarryn Fowler. 

The manager of Roots Butchery in Randburg, Johannesburg, said their prices of eggs have been going up every second week since last month. Last week a 60 box of eggs was going for R139 and today [Tuesday] we have increased the price to R159 and we expect it to go up to R179 in October. It is ridiculous but there is nothing we can do because we are not getting enough stock from the farms,” said the manager who only introduced himself as Joe.

Sophie Phiri, owner of Vero's Cakes in Fontainebleau said she has seen a panic-buying of eggs due to frequent price increases.

“I'd normally buy 180 eggs which cost me around R400 but today [Tuesday] I decided to buy 240 eggs which cost me R1,680. I did so because the prices seem to go up every other day and I unfortunately can't just increase prices of my products as that will chase customers away,” said Phiri. 

Jose, who owns Prime Meat Butchery in Randburg, said he had been struggling to sell his eggs because people can't afford.

“Today I increased the price by R1, and I'm thinking of increasing it again tomorrow, because I'm making a loss. I used to buy eggs for R105 two weeks ago from different farmers, now they're selling at R128,” said Jose.

Breitenbach said the culling process involved killing of birds within a 3km radius from where the source of the disease is found. 

Aslam Karrim, who runs a poultry farm in Putfontein, Ekurhuleni, lost his flock of 9,000 birds through the disease two months ago. He started the business four years ago. 

“Our whole livelihoods have been affected badly. I feed a family of six who are solely dependent on this business and now I don’t know what to do. I am very dependent on the farm. It’s very disappointing for the state to come around and close me without any compensation or something to that effect. I did the right thing and I went to the state to tell them that I had a problem and now they took all the problems. Now in future I'll be apprehensive if I should do that when something like this happens again and to be honest with you, I don’t even know if I have a future,” Karrim.

The Food and Allied Workers Union said although none of its members have reported immediate job losses due to the chicken influenza, the union is calling for the fast-tracking of vaccines to prevent any further outbreaks. 

“The issue here is that we should just fast track the securing of vaccines because we are going to have a shortage of production in the near future and this may lead to jobs being lost. 

“After the first outbreak in July, there was a realisation that there is a need for a vaccine to try and safeguard local suppliers of poultry. We had engagement processes with some entities in the Western Cape and were trying to assist them in engaging with the state so that the government can fast track the acquisition of the vaccines,” said the union's deputy general secretary Vuka Chonco.