Panic over chicken supply in South Africa

South African consumers, retailers and restaurants are scrambling to buy up chicken and egg supplies as the festive season approaches and a significant shortage looms.

The country’s poultry farmers and producers have been warning about supply issues over the last few weeks, as the ongoing load shedding crisis and outbreak of avian flu have left bird populations decimated.

According to the Sunday Times, producers are now going to great lengths to counter the challenges, like sharing hatchlings and moving operations to provinces that are unaffected by the flu.

South Africa is also expected to rely heavily on imports, particularly from Brazil, that paper said, as retailers and restaurants in particular are looking to stock up for the final quarter of the year.

Restaurants like Chicken Licken and Nando’s said that supplies were currently under control, while retailers like Pick n Pay and Spar said they would be diversifying their sources to ensure they had stock.

Eggs, however, remain a problem, the paper said, as they take longer to import and the process is more complex.

Reports emerged this week of many consumers hitting a dead-end trying to find eggs and chicken on store shelves, adding to the feeling of panic over supply issues.

Chicken and eggs are both staples for South African households as they are some of the most affordable sources of protein.

While meat prices in South Africa are coming down after an extended period of high inflation, poultry prices are yet to see this effect due to the pressures on the industry.

The tight supply of chicken and eggs has been looming for months as poultry producers flagged the rapidly growing problems for the sector in their financial reports.

Not only have producers been forced to cull chicks because of the flu outbreak, but the sector has been under immense pressure due to load shedding and other prevailing economic conditions for most of the last year.

The South African Poultry Association warned this week that a shortage of chicken and eggs as a result of avian flu could last until the end of October.

More than 7 million birds have been culled in the local poultry industry this year since the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

The group said that the shortage of chicken and eggs could last six to eight weeks, but farmers are taking the necessary measures to deal with the crisis.

This includes importing 10 million fertilised broiler eggs to make up for the shortage, and ramping up imports through to December.

The group has also allayed any fears about the meat currently on the market, saying that no exposed chicken or eggs would make their way to store shelves or restaurant menus, while also stressing that the virus does not affect humans.

Read: Food security warning for South Africa as load shedding decimates major chicken producer