Top companies in world poultry, egg markets

Worldwide, the poultry meat business remains relatively fragmented. In a few exceptions – such as the USA and Thailand – the market share held by the three largest production companies is already in the range of 55% to 60%. In Brazil and Russia, the top three poultry producers reportedly share just over one-quarter of the market nationally. However, in the European Union, the level of consolidation is still under 15% and is no more than 6% in China.

Nan-Dirk Mulder of Rabobank International provided the accompanying two charts for this edition of the Executive Guide, from his presentation at the 2011 World Poultry Conference. Chart 1 compares the consolidation rate of the top three producers per country in 2010 with national poultry meat prospects to 2020.

Chart 2 uses publically available data to give a rating of the largest chicken-producing companies on the world scene, illustrating that the main players originate predominately from the USA and Brazil – the only European company is Doux at number 10 for annual volume of meat produced.

The latest annual survey of American broiler producing/processing companies conducted by WATT PoultryUSA highlighted the trend of consolidation in the U.S. industry as in chart 3. Its data for 2010 revealed that, out of almost 33,000 metric tons ready-to-cook of broiler meat produced per week, the three largest companies accounted for about 46.4% and the top-10 combined share was nearly 74.7%. Table 1 lists the 10 largest companies for broiler production in 2010.

Visit www.wattagnet.com/worldtoppoultry.html to access the Top Companies database of WATTAgNet for more information about big operators in the world of commercial poultry production, processing and marketing. The following abstracts illustrate how companies range in activities and background as well as size.

• Australia: Baiada Poultry includes Bartter Pty Ltd as a subsidiary. In addition to broiler and breeder sites, hatcheries and feed mills, Baiada operates processing plants at four locations.
• Brazil: Brasil Foods, BRF, produces 1.7 billion broilers a year, making it one the largest poultry producers in the world. BRF also produces 36 million turkeys annually.  
• Bangladesh: Kazi Farms Group is the largest poultry player nationally with market shares of 25% for day-old chicks and 20% for broiler feed.
• Canada: Exceldor Cooperative Avicole, Lévis, Quebec, specialises in the processing and marketing of fresh chicken. Olymel from Quebec is Canada’s largest poultry processor.
• Chile: Agrosuper is the largest poultry producer nationally and regionally, with its Super Pollo brand for chicken as well as activities in turkey production and processing.
• China: DaChan Food is China’s largest chicken meat processor, selling mainly around Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian. It is also the largest chicken meat supplier to international fast-food chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken. Dalian Hanwei Group is the number one egg producer in China, selling its products under the name Gegeda eggs. Anhui Taiyang Poultry Co. (formerly Parkview Group) is among the largest Chinese duck breeders and is currently undertaking further expansion of parent sites. Yuhe from Shandong province is the largest supplier of day-old broiler chicks. Shandong Xinchang Group, thought to be China’s fifth largest poultry producer, is owned 60% by Tyson Foods; its duck processing facility can handle 350,000 birds per week.
• Croatia: Number one poultry company Koka also expanded into Serbia; within Croatia, it offers a range of fresh and frozen poultry products. Koka’s main competitor domestically is Gavrilovic, which also has a strong regional presence.
• Czech Republic: Agropol, a division of Agrofert, is the largest Czech supplier of poultry meat.
• Egypt: Ismailia Misr Poultry operates as an integrated company aiming to produce 8.5 million chickens, 23.2 million eggs and 37,000 metric tons of poultry feed in fiscal year 2011. Mansourah Poultry specialises in poultry production and owns 25% of processor Al Safwa Poultry.
• Ethiopia: Elfora Agro-Industries supplies 34 million eggs per year and has large-scale poultry sites at four different locations, including broiler processing and packing units. Alema Farms is the second-largest fully-integrated poultry operation nationally. Genesis Farms is Ethiopia’s third-largest private enterprise in poultry, with 10,000 layers as well as its own parent stock and hatchery.
• France: Groupe Doux is Europe’s leading producer of poultry-based processed products, selling its chicken products in over 130 countries.
• Germany: PHW Group includes poultry integration Wiesenhof, with 17 slaughter and processing plants and two further-processing facilities. The group also has feed and animal health interests. Gebrüder Stolle integration (it has feed mills, parent stock production and contracted growers with an output of around 10,000 turkeys daily) is merging with the Friki Germany, a subsidiary of Dutch group Royal Plukon.
• Guatemala: Division Industrial Pecuaria, DIP-CMI, is part of Guatemala’s Grupo Multi Inversiones and runs a Central America-wide poultry operation that includes Avicola Villalobos (Guatemala), CADECA (Honduras) and Avicola Salvadoreña (El Salvador).
• India: Suguna Poultry Farms, one of India’s largest poultry companies, works with around 10,500 contract producers of broilers and eggs. Active in 14 Indian states, it also plans to expand overseas. Godrej Tyson is an integrated company processing 36,400 metric tons of poultry annually.
• Italy: AIA is part of the Veronesi group. It produces 300,000 metric tons of chicken annually, in addition to more than 1 billion eggs and 200,000 tons of turkey meat.
• Indonesia: The country’s largest producer of poultry feed, day-old chicks and processed chickens is Charoen Pokphand Indonesia.
• Latvia: Putnu Fabrika Ķekava is the largest producer of chicken in Latvia. Rated as the largest processor, Lielzeltiņi holds about 60% of the fresh/chilled market.
• Korea Rep.: Harim Holdings (formerly Halim Co.), the largest Korean poultry integrator, supplies chicks to contract growers from five hatcheries. In 2011, the company’s meat-processing and 300,000 metric tons/year feed-manufacturing operations were separated into a new public company. Easy Bio System claimed the number two spot in 2011 by buying about 20% of chicken production company Maniker, following its acquisition of 70% of Sunghwa Food in 2010. Dongwoo has interests in broiler hatchery, production and processing while also producing feed.
• Malaysia: CAB Cakaran Corporation Berhad has one of the largest poultry production capacities in the region, with activities in Selangor, Malacca, Kelantan, Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak. Leong Hup Holdings subsidiaries are engaged in layers, broilers and ducks. Comsa produces eggs and broilers. Teo Seng is one of the largest egg producers, operating nine layer farms and five pullet rearing sites.
• Mexico: Industrias Bachoco held a 38% share of Mexico’s broiler market in 2010 compared with 14% for second-place Pilgrim’s Pride de Mexico and 12% for Tyson de Mexico. Bachoco has over 700 production and distribution facilities currently organized into nine complexes throughout Mexico. It also produces about 8% of Mexico’s egg supplies. The largest Mexican egg producer, Proteina Animal, accounts for 13% of the market. El Calvario, in third place, holds 6%, followed by Empresas Guadalupe at more than 5% with production of 2.5 million metric tons of table eggs per year.
• Netherlands: Royal Plukon Group covers a weekly processing capacity of 6.5 million chickens and turkeys after the merger of its Friki arm in Germany with German company Stolle. Plukon includes Pingo and Vleesch du Bois and already had eight factories in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Astenhof is ranked among the 10 biggest chicken processors in the Netherlands, working with producers in the Cehave Landbouwbelang Vleespluimvee integration.
• Oman: A’Saffa Poultry Farms was the first integrated poultry project to be established in the Sultanate of Oman and remains the largest. Its facilities include parent breeders as well as a hatchery, broiler sites and processing.
• Peru: San Fernando is Peru’s largest poultry company, with six hatcheries, six feed-mills, multiple grow-out sites and two processing plants.
• Philippines: San Miguel Foods’, SMFI, poultry operations include broiler breeding, hatching, growing and processing using both company-owned and contracted facilities. Vitarich is a leading integrator, operating hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills.
• Poland: Drobex produces hatching eggs, chicks, feed and broilers, while also active in processing. Drobimex, part of the PHW Group from Germany, is one of the largest poultry processing concerns in Poland, with two plants and exports about 30% of its production to other European Union countries. Cedrob is an example of a poultry business that also has a retail chain.
• Romania: Ave Impex produced an estimated 15,000 metric tons of chicken in 2010, making it one of Romania’s largest producer/processors. Another leading Romanian poultry producer is Avicola Crevedia.
• Russia: Bezrk-Belgrankorm is the biggest poultry producer in Russia, and is currently constructing more processing facilities and starting to export poultry products to Europe. In June 2011, Cherkizovo announced a new poultry production and processing complex to include a hatchery with the capacity of 160 million eggs per year, five broiler sites holding 10 million bird places and four parent stock sites for 900,000 birds.
• Saudi Arabia: Almarai Co. is investing to increase its poultry business. Al Akhawain produces 70 million hatching eggs and 30 million table eggs per year. HADCO, acquired by dairy products company Almarai in 2009, is the fourth largest for poultry production.
• Serbia: Agroziv, the largest Serbian poultry meat producer, is expanding into the Balkans following its 2011 import of a Cobb 500 breeder flock.
• Singapore: Producing approximately 340,000 eggs per day, Chew’s Agriculture provides 8% of Singapore’s egg supplies.
• South Africa: Activities by the largest chicken processor, Rainbow Chicken, range across a full integration including 148 production farms. Country Bird is third-largest, with a 10% share of the national market, and other integrated-business operations in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.
• Spain: Coren is a Spanish co-operative producing chickens, turkeys and ducks.
• Sri Lanka: Ceylon Grain Elevators and its subsidiaries are engaged in broiler production and processing, with related activities including parent stock, feed milling and poultry equipment sales.
• Sweden: Largest nationally for poultry is Kronfågel, part of Swedish farmers’ group Lantmännen, handling about 40 million chickens annually.
• Thailand: Betagro produces about 410,000 metric tons of chicken per year and exports some 40,000 metric tons. Broiler producer GFPT sells into Asia and Europe as well as being active in the domestic market.
• Uganda: Ugachick’s market shares in Uganda are 80% for day-old chicks, 40% for animal feeds and 80% for processed chicken.
• UK: Moy Park, owned by Brazil’s Marfrig, processes 166 million broilers per year.
• Venezuela: Protinal, with its affiliate Proagro, is Venezuela’s largest, fully-integrated poultry company.
• Zimbabwe: Suncrest Chickens is Zimbabwe’s largest producer of dressed chickens, currently commanding 65% of the local market.