Italy’s poultry meat production contracted by 2.5 percent last year to 1.35 million tons, however the industry ended the year with notably higher revenues – a reversal of the situation in 2016, when volumes were higher, but income dropped.
The latest figures released by Italian poultry industry association Unaitalia reveal that, while total output contracted last year, the broiler sector performed comparatively well, recording only a minor contraction.
The broiler sector produced 970,000 tons of meat, or 1.1 percent less than in 2016, while turkey meat production fell by 6.6 percent to end the year at 309,000 tons. But it was not in response to lower demand that turkey meat output declined, rather across poultry meat species, it was turkey that was most hit by the wave of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N8) in Italy last year.
Italy was the European Union country most affected by HPAI during the second half of 2017. Twenty-nine farms specializing in turkeys were affected between the start of July and mid-November alone, while only five broiler premises were affected. A small number of mixed farms were also hit and outbreaks continued into the first quarter of this year.
To meet demand for poultry meat, imports rose by more than 14 percent last year.
Price improvement
Against this backdrop of lower production but healthy demand, prices were notably higher.
For chicken meat, prices rose by 9.4 percent compared with 2016, while turkey meat prices were up by 3 percent, a strong reversal on 2016’s contraction, which saw poultry meat prices fall by more than 9 percent across the sector.
The Italian poultry industry ended the year recording revenues of EUR5.9 billion (US$6.8 billion), compared with 2016’s EUR5.5 billion.
2017’s increase in prices continued into the first quarter of 2018, with state information service Ismea noting that producer prices were significantly higher. It adds that consumers not only spent more on poultry products over the start of 2018, but that higher prices did not translate into consumers buying less poultry meat and that volume purchases also rose.
Consumption
Consumption of poultry meat in Italy has grown by 24 percent over the past five years and, for more than 54 percent of the Italian population, chicken and turkey meat are the main sources of animal protein, according to data from market research and consulting firm IPSOS.
Of all meats consumed in Italy, poultry meat is the only meat that is seeing per capita consumption increase over the longer term. However, despite this upward long-term trend, last year per capita poultry meat consumption recorded a very slight decrease, falling from 21.01 kg per person in 2016 to 20.92 kg. Within this total, chicken meat consumption rose by 0.7 percent.
How chicken is consumed in the country, however, has changed noticeably.
In the late 1970s, 90 percent of the chicken consumed in the country was as whole birds. Today, that figure has almost completely reversed, with whole birds accounting for only 11 percent of the chicken sold, and 89 percent being portions or as ingredients or in ready meals.
Eighty-nine percent of the chicken now consumed by Italians is either cuts, prepared or in ready meals. | Reddish Vale Phil, Bigstock.com
Italian egg sector shortages
Egg production in Italy contracted by 2.4 percent last year to 12.6 billion eggs.
Factors contributing to this downturn included restrictions on farms due to fipronil investigations, outbreaks of avian influenza -- the egg sector was the second most hit after turkey, with 12 premises affected between early July and mid-November -- and a continuing consumer preference for non-cage production.
Italy is thought to have consumed 13.34 billion eggs last year, when shell eggs and those used in products are accounted for. However, the downturn saw the country only 96.7 percent self-sufficient, and resulted in in imports increasing by 19 percent to meet demand.
Shortages in the egg sector continued during the first quarter of this year, and imports were three times higher compared with the first quarter of 2017. Producer prices, which rose by 44 percent in January alone, ended the quarter up by 20 percent.
While eggs from cages continue to account for 47 percent of those sold on supermarket shelves, their market share is decreasing, and those from alternative systems continue to rise, despite strong increases in prices, notes state information service Ismea.
2015 Italian poultry production up 3.6 percent, growing
